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FAMOUS DAYS AND DEEDS 
IN HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 



FAMOUS DAYS AND 

DEEDS IN HOLLAND 

AND BELGIUM 



BY 

CHARLES MORRIS 

AUTHOR OF "historical TALES," " HALF-HOTJR3 WITH THIS BEST 
AMERICAN AUTHORS," "TALES FROM THE DRAMATISTS." ETC. 



WITH 16 ILLUSTRATIONS 




PHILADELPHIA AND LONDON 
J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 

1915 






^ 



^> 



COPYRIGHT, I9IS. BY J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 



PUBLISHED APRIL, IpiS 



PRINTED BY J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 

AT THE WASHINGTON SQUARE PRESS 

PHILADELPHIA, U. 8. A. 



/AY 20 i915 
ICU401065 



PREFACE 

Theke are few countries that have attracted more 
attention than those low-lying lands formerly known 
collectively as the Netherlands, but now nsnally 
designated by the two titles of Holland and Belgium. 
This is especially the case just at present with Bel- 
gium, which has been swept over by the desolating 
flood of war, its towns and cities ruined .or held by 
its enemies, its people made famishing fugitives, 
homeless, foodless and despairing. 

The degree of prominence into which these coun- 
tries, or Belgium at least, have recently been brought 
was much surpassed in former times, when they 
were the seats of almost incredible hosrors and 
frightful catastrophes. It is to depict for the reader 
of to-day the struggles and calamities of the ISTether- 
lands in the past that this work has been prepared. 

Most of the sufferings spoken of took place in 
the reigns of two religious zealots, the Emperor 
Charles V. and the merciless bigot Philip II., who 
converted those unhappy realms into Gehennas of 
awful torment and terror. We are therefore obliged 
to deal at length with the events of those two reigns, 
while passing rapidly over the preceding and sub- 
sequent periods. 

The two countries named have their romances of 
stirring deeds on sea and shore, their records of 
sack and plunder, their dreadful examples of the 
effects of fanatical bigotry, their frightful eras of 

3 



4 PREFACE 

burnings and tortures, claimed to have been done in 
the service of Christ. So far as Holland is con- 
cerned, this period is also one of defiance of the 
most powerful monarch then reigning, an era of 
successful defence on land and victory on the seas, 
an age in which this small republic grew to occupy 
the position of the most active in commerce and 
manufacture and the most enterprising in maritime 
adventure of the countries then existing. Those 
were the days of its supremacy upon the ocean, the 
days in which bold Van Tromp, its great admiral, 
defied the fleets of England and Spain and swept the 
British Channel with a broom at his masthead as 
a signal that Holland ruled the waves. 

This period of prominence has long since passed 
away. Holland, once the victorious, has lost its su- 
premacy, while Belgium's title of the ^^Dattleground 
of Europe '^ has become one of infinite sorrow. But 
the past history of these countries is on record and is 
one full of tales of romantic daring and interesting 
achievement, tales amply worthy of being again told 
in these days of desolation and dismay in that once 
flourishing region of the earth. 

Such is the purpose of this book, which proposes 
to give, not the history, but the more notable his- 
torical tales, of the countries concerned. It is hoped 
these sketches of past events will prove of interest 
and value in the present vital epoch in European 
history. ^ ^ 

April, 1915. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER PAGE 

I. Early History op the Netherlands.. . 9 
II. From the Rule of Rome to That op 

Spain 18 

III. Charles V. and the Humiliation op 

Ghent 29 

IV. How AN Emperor Retired from Business 37 
V. The Siege of St. Quentin 45 

VI. The Inquisition in the Netherlands . . 53 
VII. The Compromise and the Beggars' 

League 63 

VIII. The Avalanche of the Image Breakers 73 
IX. William the Silent, Prince of Orange 83 
X. The Duke of Alva and the Council of 

Blood 94 

XI. The Prince of Orange to the Rescue. 101 
XII. The Ocean Overwhelms the Land 112 

XIII. An Act of Patriotic Daring 115 

XIV. The Beggars of the Sea 118 

XV. The Capture and Evacuation of Mons. 126 

XVI. The Siege of Haarlem 134 

XVII. Victory for the Patriots 144 

XVIII. How Leyden was Saved by the Sea. . , . 150 
XIX. How THE Prince Became Dictator .... 162 

XX. How AN Army Waded to Victory 166 

XXI. The Mutiny and the Spanish Fury 171 

XXII. Don John of Austria and Netherland 

Union 183 

XXIII. The Siege of Maebtricht and the 

French Fury 193 

XXIV. The Assassination ofWilliam THE Silent 203 

5 



6 CONTENTS 

XXV. The Famous Siege op Antwerp 209 

XXVI. Leicester and Sidney in the Nether- 
lands 216 

XXVII. The Fate op the Invincible Armada.. 222 
XXVIII. The Exploits op Prince Maurice op 

Nassau 230 

XXIX. How Ostend was Besieged and De- 
fended 239 

XXX. The Dutch Win Empire on the Sea 248 

XXXI. The Independence op the Provinces. . 254 
XXXII. The Dutch Colonies in the Indies. . . 260 

XXXIII. Holland in the Seventeenth Century . 270 

XXXIV. Wars with England and France 282 

XXXV. The Powers Combine Against France. 292 

XXXVI. The Decline of the Netherlands .... 300 
XXXVII. Holland in the Eighteenth Century. 306 

XXXVIII. Napoleon and the Netherlands 317 

XXXIX. Separation of Holland and Belgium.. 325 
XL. The Netherlands in the Nineteenth 

Century 332 

XLI, The Desolation of Belgium 341 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Antwerp from the Dome of the Cathedral, Showmg the 

River Scheldt Frontispiece 

A Harbor in Holland 20 

Entry of Charles V. into Ghent 32 

PhiHp II. Receiving an Embassy 54 

Festival of League of ''Beggars" 68 ■ 

Interior of the Cathedral of Antwerp 76* 

The Night Watch 90 

The Duke of Alva in Brussels 98' 

The Last Moments of Count Egmont 106' 

A Conference of Netherland Nobles 184 

The Harbor of Antwerp in the Sixteenth Century 212 

The Fish Market f . . . . 272 

Admiral de Ruyter 282 

WilUam HI., Prince of Orange and Stadtholder of 

Holland, Afterward King of England 286 

Celebration of the Freedom of the Port of Antwerp. 308 
The City of Amsterdam 338 



FAMOUS DAYS AND DEEDS 
IN HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

CHAPTER I 

EARLY HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS 

Europe is a continent made up of hills and plains, 
the hills mainly in the south, the plains forming 
one great level stretching from the Ural Mountains 
in the east, over Russia and Germany, to the small 
kingdoms of Holland and Belgium in the north- 
west. Here the plain dips down under the ocean, 
or would do so but for the many miles of dykes that 
rescue it from the waters of the North Sea/ 

This little triangle of half -wet and half-dry land, 
lying between France, Germany, and the salt sea, 
has long been known as the Netherlands, or low- 
lands, the northern half of it being now called Hol- 
land, the southern half forming the modern kingdom 
of Belgium. Here, in the southeast, the land rises 
into the hill country known as the Ardennes. In 
the northwest it sinks so low that part of it lies from 
sixteen to twenty feet below the level of the North 
Sea, nearly the whole of it being several feet below 
sea-level. Only its sand hills and strong dykes save 
it from being converted from a kingdom into a fish- 
pond. As it stands it is a realm of water, for one is 
never out of sight of canals, which divide the farms 
and fields as fences do in our drier land. 

9 



10 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

This spongy realm, which has little need of rains 
to make it fertile, was born as the tribute of three 
rivers to the continent, or as the conquest of three 
rivers from the ocean. These are the Ehine, the 
Meuse, and the Scheldt, which make their way from 
the highlands of the south to the lowlands of the 
north, where for ages they have been dropping their 
fertile slime among the dunes and hills of sand 
heaped up by the restless ocean waves. 

Around the mouths of these streams most of the 
Netherlands have been built up, soil from the hills 
being laid upon sands from the seas, until oozy 
islands rose from the waves upon which man at 
length found support for his feet, and began his 
long labor of walling off the ocean and rescuing 
from its waters the " Hollow Land.'^ 

Such was the foundation laid by nature for the 
kingdoms which were in time to grow up around 
these river beds. Lagoons and shallows, islands of 
mud and ooze, dense thidkets and wild forests — such 
was the scene amid which dwelt the first wretched 
inhabitants of this region, living chiefly on fish, for 
there was little other food. There was nothing to 
show that here in time would grow up rich and 
fertile kingdoms, their inhabitants, conquerors of the 
ocean and daring navigators, with colonies reaching 
to the far ends of the earth. 

Everywhere were forests, skirting the seacoast, 
spreading far to the east, their dense thickets hold- 
ing back the sands cast up by the waves and forming 
the beginning of that great breastwork which the 
hands of busy delvers was to complete, fitting the- 
realm of the Netherlands for the residence of civilized 



EARLY HISTORY OF NETHERLANDS 11 

man. Into two regions it grew, the low-lying Hol- 
land of the north, the higher Belgium of the south, 
with the Ardennes hills for its southeast border. 

This low-lying land, thus built up, was the stage 
upon which was to be played the historical drama of 
Netherland history. It was long in growing into a 
united country, being for centuries divided up into 
the holdings of counts, barons, dukes and marquises. 
These were not brought under one strong hand until 
near the end of the fifteenth century, when the Duke 
of Burgundy became the lord of the whole array 
of minor provinces and the real history of the Neth- 
erlands began. As for the present kingdom of 
Belgium, its separate existence dates back only until 
1830, though a degree of division between the two 
provinces had long existed. 

All this is introductory to the actual history of 
the low countries ; but there was an earlier history, 
reaching back to the era of the Roman empire, of 
which there are tales of interest to tell. We first 
hear of the dwellers in this region in the writings of 
Julius Caesar, the first of the Romans to meet them 
in war, and of the historian Tacitus, who tells us of 
the struggle between these poor dwellers on the 
dunes and the armies of the mighty empire of the 
south. Greatly as they differed in power, the forest 
and island warriors held their own with sturdy 
courage against the armies of all-conquering Rome. 

We must look upon these semi-savages in the 
dens in which they dwelt on the first appearance in 
history. On flowing into the lowlands the Rhine di- 
vides into two branches. The " two-horned Rhine '^ 
it is called by Virgil. Between these horns lay the 



12 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

island of Batavia, which formed the core of the coun- 
try, its people divided in origin between the Celts 
of Gaul and the Teutons of Germany. 

In early times, a century before the Christian era, 
the dwellers upon this island, probably Celts, were 
drowned out of their huts by an overflow of the 
ocean, which swept away the rude dwellings of the 
people and even the trees of the forest. Weary of 
their long contest with the sea, the drowned-out 
people left their island and joined the Cimbri and 
other tribes which at that time made a furious assault 
upon Eome. The island did not long remain empty. 
It was soon peopled again, this time by part of a 
German tribe who had fought with their fellows and 
been driven out to seek a new home. This they 
found on the deserted island, which they called Bet- 
aud, or " Good Meadow.^' From this name they re- 
ceived the title of Batavi, or Batavians, by which they 
were afterwards known. 

This brings us to the first historical stage in the 
annals of the Low Countries. Previously unknown, 
they now enter upon the stage of history. The 
armies of Cassar, who had invaded Gaul, came in 
contact with them, and found them among the hardi- 
est and most valorous of all with whom they had to 
deal. He tells us that the Belgians were the bravest 
of all the Celtic tribes, and Tacitus says the same of 
the Batavians, who in his view were the bravest of 
all the Germans. 

While the Eomans conquered the Belgians and 
exacted tribute from other tribes, they laid no tax 
upon the Batavians. Probably they had nothiQg 
with which to pay taxes. At any rate the Eomans 



EAKLY HISTORY OF NETHERLANDS 13 

looked upon these hardy islanders as their friends. 
They took them into their armies, where the Ba- 
tavian cavalry won fame for hardihood and courage. 
It was their daring that turned the tide in Cassar's 
favor at the battle of Pharsalia, and they were his 
favorites among all his soldiers. After his death the 
Batavian legion became the bodyguard of the em- 
perors and the island of Batavia the center of the 
warlike movements of Eome in the west. 

" Others go to battle/' Tacitus says of them ; 
" these go to war." Their young men let their hair 
and beards go unshorn until they had killed an 
enemy. On their necks they wore an iron ring, the 
emblem of sloth, which they threw away when they 
had made their mark in battle. 

They were all men of giant size and strength, 
Gauls and Germans alike. The Eomans they con- 
temned as pigmies. Both were sturdy of b^y and 
strong of limb, and both fair of skin and blue of 
eyes, but they differed in other particulars. The Celt 
had long locks of yellow hair, the Germans manes 
of fiery red which they twisted into a war knob on 
their heads. And while the Celts were fond of fine 
{dress and showy ornaments, the German had no 
thought of finery and his only ornament was his iron 
ring. The Gaul was of hasty temper, furious in his 
rage, but had less staying power than the German. 

'' All the Gauls are of very high stature,'' says a 
Roman writer. " They are white, golden-haired, ter- 
rible in the fierceness of their eyes, greedy of quar- 
rels, bragging and insolent. At all ages they are apt 
for military service. The old man goes forth to fight 
with equal strength of breast, with limbs as hardened 



14 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

by cold and assiduous labor, and as contemptuous 
of all dangers as the young. Not one of them, as in 
Italy is often the case, was ever known to cut off his 
thumbs to avoid the service of Mars." 

Such is an introduction to the story of the Nether- 
lands, the character of the country and of the two 
races of people, the Celts and the Germans, who in- 
habited it. As to their history, it begins with the 
story told by Cassar, their conqueror. He found 
them defiant. When he invaded Belgium, its tribes 
hastened to form a league against him. But it fell 
to pieces almost as soon as formed, and the tribes 
which formed it were quickly subdued. 

One tribe, the Nervii, of German origin, proved 
sturdier foes, swearing to die rather than to sur- 
render. The story of their vigorous defence is the 
first notable tale of warfare that comes to us from 
the Netherlands. 

At the head of eight Eoman legions Cassar marched 
upon them in their camp on the Sambre. On a steep 
hill that sloped down to the river he pitched his 
tents and opened the battle by sending a body of 
cavalry across the stream. Down upon these, from 
the wooded hill opposite, rushed the Nervii, over- 
throwing horse and rider, plunging into and wading 
across the stream, and charging up the steep slope 
upon the camp of the legions. As Caesar says : " At 
the same time they seemed in the wood, in the river, 
and within our lines." 

This furious onslaught caused a brief panic among 
the legions. But the trained soldiers soon regained 
their nerve. Cassar himself plunged into the midst 
of the fight, his only armor being a shield seized from 



EARLY HISTORY OF NETHERLANDS 15 

a soldier. Foot to foot, hand to hand, the battle 
went, discipline and cool valor gradually getting the 
better of the barbarian fury. But there was no 
thought of flight or surrender in the Nervii. They 
had vowed to die in the field, and they fought on 
with savage courage until the ground was strewn 
thick with their dead, leaping upon the fallen bodies, 
we are told, and hurling their javelins upon the foe 
as from a hill. 

They were not defeated ; they died. Of their many 
thousands, only five hundred left the field. When 
Caesar reached the place where their women and chil- 
dren had been left, he found only three of their 
senators alive. With a warrior's regard for the un- 
daunted courage of his enemies, the victor bade his 
soldiers to treat with all due respect the remnant of 
the Nervii, than whom he had met none braver in 
his career. 4 

There is another story worth telling of the conflict 
between Rome and the Netherlands. C^sar had died 
by the hands of assassins. The empire succeeded the 
Roman republic, the Batavians becoming the life- 
guards of the emperors. In the contest for the im- 
perial throne between Otho and Vitellius, the de- 
cision fell into the hands of the Batavians, and they 
declared for the latter. But the new emperor grew 
to fear these turbulent emperor-makers and dis- 
missed them from his service, sending them back to 
their island home. From this came a long and dan- 
gerous revolt, which nearly put an end to Roman 
rule in the Netherlands. 

The leader in this revolt was a soldier who had 
long been one of the Batavian guards and bore the 



16 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

Eoman name of Claudius Civilis. After serving for 
twenty-five years in the Eoman army he was sent in 
chains to Rome, falsely charged with conspiracy. 
His brother, under the same charge, was executed. 
Civilis escaped with life and made his way north, 
bitter at heart and bent on freeing his people from 
the Eoman yoke. 

He was brave, eloquent and skilled in manage- 
ment, and in time organized a confederation of all 
the Netherland tribes, Celtic and German alike. 
His influence was aided by that of a woman oracle, 
who dwelt in a lofty town in a wide forest, and had 
great influence over the surrounding tribes. Her 
promise of success to Civilis and the fall of the 
Eoman power greatly increased his influence, and 
large subsidies were sent him by many of the German 
tribes. 

The story of the revolt is ably told by Tacitus. 
It was the struggle of a brave man and a valiant 
nation against the mighty power of Eome. It is 
made up of battles, sieges, success, failure, daring 
and unyielding courage and patriotic spirit. Many 
victories there were, many defeats, but in the end 
the strength of Eome triumphed and dark clouds 
gathered around the patriot cause. 

The tribes of Gaul begged for peace. Even the 
Batavians grew weary of the hopeless struggle. 
Emissaries from the Eoman camp made their way 
among the tribes, sapped their fidelity, and even 
induced the woman oracle to change her verdict and 
predict ruin to the hero's cause. 

Had Civilis been an ordinary man his cause would 
have now been at an end. But he did not propose 



EARLY HISTORY OF NETHERLANDS 17 

to be sacrificed by those who had seceded from his 
service and sought his ruin. He agreed to hold a 
conference with Cerialis, the Roman general, who 
was ready to grant him a full pardon and eager to 
bring back so able a soldier to the Roman ranks. 

As preparation for this conference the bridge 
across the Nabalia was broken in the middle, Cerialis 
and Civilis facing each other on the two sides. The 
stream flowed between the Roman and Batavian 
chieftains, and — there the story abruptly ends. The 
remainder of the narrative has been lost. Upon the 
broken bridge Civilis vanishes from history. Only 
his name survives. The final scene in the drama 
of a heroic life sinks into oblivion. 



^/ 



CHAPTER II 

FROM THE RULE OP ROME TO THAT OF SPAIN" 

In" the centuries that followed the days of Caesar 
the Netherlands remained faithful subjects of Rome, 
and the Batavians held their old fame as warriors. 
When, in the fourth century, the Emperor Julian 
fought with the revolted Germans, the sturdy Ba- 
tavian cavalry brought victory to his standard. But 
in the years that followed this famous tribe dis- 
appeared from history and the Netherlands became 
the marching ground of the hordes of bold bar- 
barians who trampled the Roman empire under their 
feet. The Franks succeeded the Romans, holding 
Gaul and Belgium, but Holland was peopled by the 
^^ Free Frisians," absorbers of the old Batavians and 
near relations of the Anglo-Saxons. 

We are not here dealing with Netherland history 
as a whole, but with episodes in the career of the 
Low Country heroes and people ; yet a rapid survey 
of their story during the earlier centuries may be of 
interest as an introduction. This will serve as a 
topic for the present chapter. 

While the Belgians formed part of the kingdom 
of the Franks, the Frisians dwelt under their own 
kings, defiant pagans, rugged and bold barbarians. 
They had the Franks to fight, but proved hard to 
subdue. In 692, Pepin, the Prankish " mayor of the 
palace," overcame Radbod, the Frisian leader, and 
made him change his title from king to duke. Pepin^s 
18 



FROM RULE OF ROME TO SPAIN 19 

son, Charles the Hammer, forced the Frisian chief to 
submit and even to agree to exchange the worship of 
the pagan gods for that of the Christian deity. 

But the folly of Bishop Wolfram, who was chosen 
to baptize him, lost to Christianity this truculent 
heathen. 

Eadbod had thrust one of his royal legs into the 
baptismal font, but before thrusting the other he 
turned to the bishop with a sudden question. 

" Where are my dead forefathers ? " he asked. 

" In hell, with all other unbelievers," said the 
incautious bishop. 

Eadbod withdrew his leg. 

" If that is so,^^ he said, '^ then will I rather feast 
with my ancestors in the hall of Woden than dwell in 
heaven with your little starveling band of Chris- 
tians." 

They pleaded with him, threatened him, cajoled 
him, alike in vain. He refused to be separated from 
the former heroes of his race and died in the bonds 
of paganism. It was found much easier to make him 
a duke than a Christian. 

But Christianity was soon forced upon the Fris- 
ians. Charles Martel, whose hammer-like blows had 
routed the Saracens at Tours, turned his sword upon 
the Frisians, and in 750 defeated them utterly in a 
great battle. With him came Winfred, an Anglo- 
Saxon bishop. When the work of invasion ended 
about a hundred thousand Frisians had been slain 
and as many more converted, the sword and crozier 
uniting in this work. Thus were the Netherlanders 
made Christians. 

Charlemagne, the supreme Frankish warrior, 



20 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

came next, fighting for years with the rebel Frisians 
and Saxons. This work of conquest ended in 785. 
After that date the Frisians remained peaceful sub- 
jects of the kings of France until the period of their 
final separation from that kingdom. The feudal sys- 
tem, however, took no root in their soil. ^^ Free 
Frisians^' they remained. In the words of their 
statute book, " The Frisians shall be free as long 
as the wind blows out of the clouds and the world 
stands." 

In the year 922 Charles the Simple, one of the 
degenerate descendants of Charlemagne, presented 
to Count Dirk the territory of Holland, a narrow 
hook of land between the North Sea and the Zuyder 
Zee, which in the centuries to come was to be the 
cradle of the wide dominion of the Netherlands. He 
ranked as Dirk I., Count of Holland, which was 
long to remain the inheritance of his descendants. 
For century after century the Counts of Holland and 
the Bishop of Utrecht were to divide between them 
the moral and political sway over this territory. Its 
provinces were ruled by dukes, counts, barons, mar- 
quesses, and lords with other titles. After many 
years all these were to be merged into the United 
States of the Netherlands. 

Now let us glance at another phase of Netherland 
history, aside from the political one. We began with 
these people as pagan barbarians. At the point we 
have reached they had become civilized Christians. 
Their miserable groups of huts and hovels had devel- 
oped into crowded and well-built cities. From hum- 
ble tillers of the soil they had become active artisans. 
Commerce arose and brought wealth to the Nether- 



FROM RULE OF ROME TO SPAIN 21 

lands. Fishermen became sea rovers and merchant 
princes. Poor Flemish weavers rose to be rich manu- 
facturers. Marts of trade and centers of manufac- 
ture grew into great and wealthy cities, and the hand- 
ful of starvelings of the far past developed into 
numerous and thriving communities. In place of 
wandering barbarians, living in swamps and thickets, 
of the Roman period, the land now held some three 
millions of civilized people, noted everywhere for 
their industry, prosperity, and intelligence. The 
national industry was untiring, the splendid tapes- 
tries, silks, linens, and more common and needful 
fabrics of the Low Countries were widely prized. 
Their walled cities in time numbered more than 200, 
their chartered towns 150, their villages over 6000, 
and within these the people enjoyed a degree of lib- 
erty and self-government not elsewhere to be found 
in Europe, except perhaps in Switzerland. x\nd no- 
where were to be found people more ready to strike 
for their rights, more pugnacious and excitable, more 
ready to resist tyranny. 

Among the matters of interest worthy of mention 
were their guilds, these being societies for mutual 
support, recreation and improvement. Such so- 
cieties, under other titles, are still numerous, but 
nowhere else have there been seen any that equalled 
in certain particulars those of Germany and the 
Netherlands, especially the Guilds of Rhetoric, which 
were to be found in all the principal cities. The 
members of these are better known as the Master- 
singers, a fantastic outgrowth of the poetical Minne- 
singers. These societies devoted themselves to the 
art of poetry, and led the muse into a labyrinth 



22 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

of mechanical composition that formed one of the 
oddest phases in the history of literature. 

Motley speaks thus of them : "To torture the Muses 
to madness, to wiredraw poetry through inextricable 
coils of difficult rhymes and impossible measures, to 
hammer one golden grain of wit into a sheet of in- 
finite platitude, with frightful ingenuity to construct 
ponderous anagrams and preternatural acrostics, to 
dazzle the vulgar eye with tawdry costumes, and to 
tickle the vulgar ear with virulent personalities, were 
tendencies which perhaps smacked of the hammer, 
the yard-stick and the pincers, and gave sufficient 
proof, had proof been necessary, that literature is not 
one of the mechanical arts, and that poetry cannot be 
manufactured by joint stock companies." 

This well indicates the character of one of the most 
fantastic and extraordinary episodes in literary de- 
velopment, one in which the guilds of burghers and 
craftsmen of the Netherlands indulged in poetry- 
making as one of their trades, dealing with everyday 
subjects and hammering them out by mechanical 
rules, until every trace of real poetry was squeezed 
out of the verbal mass. For several centuries this 
song business went on in Germany and the Low 
Countries, only one name of merit surviving from 
the multitude of literary artificers, that of Hans 
Sachs, the famous shoemaker of Nuremberg. 

To return to the political history of this region, it 
was, in the period with which we are now concerned, 
made up of the petty affairs of a considerable number 
of provinces, each under its titled ruler and each 
marked by a strong regard for the principles of 
human liberty. In the thirteenth and fourteenth 



FROM RULE OF ROME TO SPAIN 23 

centuries, during which the neighboring people of 
France were reduced to serfdom under absolute lords, 
the province of Friesland was in everything except 
name a free republic. Self-government also pre- 
vailed largely in the provinces of Holland, Flanders, 
and Brabant. The coming republican common- 
wealth was clearly foreshadowed in the free spirit 
and resistance to despotism on all sides displayed. 

Gradually, as the years passed on, union between 
the several provinces took place, though quarrels and 
commotions were common. After the death of 
William the Fourth, Count of Hainault, without an 
heir, in 1355, contests for power and rule set all the 
provinces by the ears. With Hainault were com- 
bined Holland and Zealand. In these arose two great 
parties, which were given the uncouth names of 
Hook and Kabbeljaw (fish-hook and cod-fish), and 
the whole country was divided between tneir ad- 
herents, city against city, duke against baron, in some 
cases father against son, the squabble going on for a 
century and a half. The Kabbeljaws were the repre- 
sentatives of the people, the popular element in the 
cities. The Hooks comprised the caste of nobles who 
sought to catch and control the cod-fish class, and 
the source of contest was that between the rights of 
the people and the claims of the counts and barons. 

In 1417 the rule of these three provinces de- 
scended, in fault of a male heir, to Jacqueline, 
daughter of William the Fifth, then a damsel of 
seventeen. ^^ Unhappy lies the head which wears a 
crown.^' Such at least the hapless Jacqueline was to 
find. Married three times to brutes and cowards, 
struggling vehemently for thirteen years against her 



24 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

own kinsmen, who sought to wrest from her the 
throne, she has become the favorite heroine of ballad 
and romance in the Netherlands, and the misfortunes 
of ill-treated Jacqueline have been watered with 
innumerable tears. 

Finally, exhausted and despondent, she was obliged 
to yield her heritage to her ambitious cousin, known 
in history by the ill-fitting name of Philip the Good. 
From being sovereign, Jacqueline was thrust down 
in rank to lady forester of her own broad domains. 
Fortunately a fourth marriage proved a happy one, 
but the hapless queen died in 1437, after twenty 
years of misfortune, and Philip became unquestioned 
lord of her realm. 

This conquest put an end to the division of the 
[Netherlands into separate principalities, countships, 
and baronies. Philip had inherited the dukedom 
of Burgundy, was lord of Flanders and Artois, and 
had extended his rule over several of the Netherland 
provinces. His dispossession of his cousin Jacque- 
line made him lord of the whole land, master of so 
many rich cities and fruitful provinces that he 
ranked himself among the kings of the European 
nations. 

Philip had some warrant for this claim, The 
N'etherlands formed a rich prize. Nowhere else in 
Europe were there greater industry and activity and 
more rapid accumulation of wealth. The fisheries 
of Holland alone were of immense value, and gave 
rise to a class of daring mariners who in time were 
to extend the fame of their fatherland far and wide. 

As for the freedom and political privileges of the 
people of the Netherlands, they suffered at the hands 



FROM RULE OF ROME TO SPAIN 25 

of the "good'' duke of Burgundy. A despot by 
nature, he repudiated all the promises he had made 
and did his best to overthrow the liberties of his 
new subjects. In this he succeeded in a measure. 
But the traditions of the country and the inherited 
spirit of freedom in the people were possessions not 
easy to abolish, and the time was sure to come when 
they would regain the ascendency. 

Philip died in 1467. His throne was left to his son 
Charles, a man whose daring, turbulent spirit and 
meteoric , career have brought him into fame under 
his historical title of Charles the Bold. Of fearless 
disposition and ambitious spirit, the master of one 
of the richest realms of Europe, it was his earnest 
desire to lift Burgundy to the rank of a kingdom. 
But in this he had to deal with the crafty Louis XI., 
the most subtle of French monarchs, against whose 
political artfulness the bold Duke of Burgundy was 
a feeble opponent. 

We have little to do hexe with the career of Charles 
the Bold, the chief events of whose history lay out- 
side the Netherlands and whose ambition led him to 
death in the Alpine realm of the Swiss. Mistaking 
courage for competence, he fancied himself a great 
soldier, which he was not, and set out on a career 
of conquest. In 1475 he conquered Lorraine and 
in the following year invaded Switzerland, where he 
met with a terrible defeat at Granson, losing his bag- 
gage and much of his treasures. Three months later, 
inspired by fury, he led a new army to Switzerland, 
and had it cut to pieces at Morat in a still more sig- 
nal defeat. With redoubled fury he, in the early 
months of the next year, led a third army to the field, 



26 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

encountered his foes at Nancy, fought them with his 
old boldness and recklessness, and fell on the field, 
a victim to his overweening ambition and self- 
confidence. 

The great size and strength of Charles, his im- 
mense ambition and his daring audacity made him 
the most striking figure of his time, and the finding 
of his body at Nancy, half naked, sunk in mud, and 
almost unrecognizable, was a fitting end to his fierce 
and reckless career. 

The death of Charles the Eash, as he is also called, 
changed the aspect of affairs. His dukedom went to 
pieces. Louis XI. seized Burgundy and added it to 
the kingdom of France. The people of the Nether- 
lands regained for the time their lost liberty. The 
Hooks and Kabbeljaws, nobles and people, joined in 
claiming the old freedom of the land. The Duchess 
Mary, daughter of Charles, succeeded him in domin- 
ion over the Netherlands, but she was young, weak, 
and unfit to hold the sceptre of her strenuous father, 
and readily granted the demands of her subjects, 
yielding them the " Groot Privilegie ^' ( Great Privi- 
lege), which ranks as the Magna Charta of Holland, 
the foundation of the future republic. 

Here comes in an interesting episode. The 
Duchess Mary was ill advised or ill intentioned. The 
states of the Netherlands sent two envoys, Imbrecourt 
and Hugonet, on a mission to Louis XI. of France. 
The duchess secretly arranged with them to negotiate 
with the French king against the liberties of their 
country. The crafty Louis, seeing nothing for him- 
self in their secret advices, betrayed them. 

A tragedy followed. On their return to Ghent 



FROM RULE OF ROME TO SPAIN 27 

they were seized by the enraged burghers, quickly 
tried, and as quickly condemned. The Lady Mary 
vainly endeavored to save the victims of her treach- 
ery. Dressed in mourning garments, with dis- 
hevelled hair, loosened girdle, and weeping eyes, she 
sought the town house and market place, humbly 
begging the lives of her servants. Her efforts were 
fruitless. The traitors were beheaded. The Bel- 
gians had struck sharply and signally for the safety 
of their regained rights. 

These rights were soon to be overthrown. Duchess 
Mary married the Archduke Maximilian of Austria, 
afterwards Emperor of Germany. A fall from her 
horse led to her death, and her son Philip, four years 
of age, inherited her domain. Maximilian became 
his guardian as ruler of the provinces and put down 
by force and treachery all who opposed him, so that 
in 1493, when Philip the Fair succeeded^ to his 
mother's realm, the Great Privilege had been set 
aside and the rights of the people were again at an 
end. 

Now comes the final chapter in this record of the 
early Netherlands. Philip married Joanna, daugh- 
ter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Castile and Aragon, 
the step being thus taken that was to bring the Low 
Countries under the power of Spain and lead to a 
central and southern Europe, and as great-grandson 
in history. 

Ten years after his marriage Philip the Fair died, 
leaving his throne to his son Charles, born in 1500, 
a man who, as Charles I. of Spain, was to become 
monarch of Spain and the Netherlands, and as 
Charles V., Emperor of Germany, a second Charle- 



28 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

magne, whose dominion extended over a vast section 
of the world. 

With the birth of Charles was ushered in an era 
of despotism and desolation for the Netherlands 
which was to continue for more than a century, and 
under his son, the austere Philip II., was to be 
marked by a period of religious persecution such as 
the world has rarely known. 

We have, in these two chapters, given a rapid 
resume of the history of the Netherlands, or Low 
Countries, from the earliest known period up to the 
opening year of the sixteenth century, as a back- 
ground for a series of stories of subsequent events, 
which will be told with little effort to connect them 
by historical links, they being given merely as the 
more interesting episodes in the career of the Nether- 
landish people. 



CHAPTER III 

CHARLES V. AND THE HUMILIATION OF GHENT 

Greater in power than any monarch since Charle- 
magne was Charles I. of Spain, ruler over the vast 
empire which Spain had built up in America and 
other parts of the world. Elected Emperor of Ger- 
many as Charles V. in 1579, he lorded it over 
central and southern Europe, and as great-grandson 
of Charles the Bold, he added the Netherlands to 
his great dominions. 

Small as was the Netherlandish province of his 
empire, it gave him a share of trouble out of accord 
with its extent. A nest of heresy, a home of free 
people and liberal institutions, the devout arid abso- 
lute Charles found this small corner of his dominions 
one that gave him constant concern. To make good 
Catholics and obedient subjects of the unruly people 
of the Low Countries was destined to prove a task 
beyond his power. 

It is the story of the city of Ghent with which 
we are in this chapter concerned, this active hive of 
industry being one of the most obstinate in its 
free spirit and institutions of all those under the 
powerful emperor. Spain lay under his thumb, but 
it needed his whole hand to keep down the turbulent 
Ghentese. 

Ghent, in those days, was a great and powerful 
city. Erasmus tells us that there was no town in 
Europe equal to it in size, power, and importance. 

29 



30 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

Others who knew it said it was rather a country than 
a city. Its burghers were famous for wealth, its 
citizens for industry. Traversed by the rivers Lys 
and Scheldt, which met in its confines, canals crossed 
it in all directions, drawbridges by the hundred en- 
abling the people to traverse the streets. Every 
day, at fixed hours, the bells of the city rang loudly 
and the drawbridges were raised, suspending all 
traffic while the armies of workmen made their way 
to and from their workshops. In Ghent the working 
classes counted for their full worth. With a popu- 
lation of 200,000 and control over many neighboring 
towns, Ghent was, as early as the fourteenth cen- 
tury, able to bring 80,000 fighting men into the 
field, and sturdy soldiers these made. 

Strong walls surrounded this proud city, their 
total circuit being about nine miles. It could boast 
of numerous noble buildings, including a handsome 
city hall and a regal belfry. In the latter for three 
centuries had rested the dragon sent from Constanti- 
nople by the Emperor Baldwin of Flanders. In it 
also himg the famous bell Eoland, the pride of the 
people, which for many generations had called the 
people to arms in time of conflict, and this for 
foreign and domestic wars alike. 

As may be seen, Ghent was a free city, and one 
that sturdily held its own. In all but name it was 
a republic, electing many of its own officials and 
claiming all the privileges granted in the " Great 
Privilege " given by the Lady Mary, daughter of 
Charles the Bold. 

A center of turbulence, it had more than once 
broken into active insurrection and for many years 



CHAHLES V. 31 

had vigorously resisted the Dukes of Burgundy. Its 
final effort in this direction was in 1540, when it 
made the fatal mistake of breaking into rebellion 
against Charles V. 

It was a money question that led to this insurrec- 
tion. Charles had demanded from the states of the 
Netherlands 1,200,000 florins, to aid him in his 
foreign wars. Of this 400,000 was demanded of 
Flanders. Ghent, which had little sympathy with 
the Emperor's wars in foreign realms, refused to pay 
its share of this subsidy, and when payment was 
insisted upon broke into open insurrection. 

The citizens were willing to pay troops enlisted by 
themselves and marching under their own banner, 
but, when asked to hand over an enormous sum to 
be used in a war in which they had no concern, they 
refused and went so far as to put to death th§ agent 
who had ventured to promise the money in their 
name. 

Excited by these events, the wrath of the people 
swelled beyond control, the tongue of the great bell 
Eoland pealed forth from its belfry, and the streets 
swarmed with thousands of rebellious artisans, who 
left their workshops to demand their rights. The 
liberties of the city had previously been threatened 
by a celebrated document known as the '' calf skin," 
and this was now seized, cut in two, and torn into 
shreds, pieces of it being stuck into the caps of the 
angry citizens as they paraded the streets. 

Thus far they had it their own way, but the im- 
perial Charles was yet to be dealt with, and he was a 
stern and capable ruler. For a city to defy an empire 
was a serious matter, and the rebels, finding that 



32 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

they had let indignation run away with reason, 
sought to gain support by intrigues with Francis I., 
King of France, a bitter enemy of the Emperor 
Charles, at whose hands he had suffered defeat and 
imprisonment. 

Just then, however. King Francis was in no mood 
for a fresh war with his powerful foe and he sent 
word to Charles of the overtures of the rebellious 
citizens. The turbulent Ghentese had signed their 
death warrant. Charles resolved to punish them for 
their temerity and set forth with an army much be- 
yond their power to oppose, marching through 
France on invitation of Francis I. This march has 
been looked upon by historians as an act of dan- 
gerous folly on the part of the Emperor. Louis XI. 
had in the previous century trusted himself to the 
honor of Charles the Bold, and barely escaped with 
his life. It was deemed that Francis, who, captured 
in battle, had for a year been held prisoner by 
Charles, would take this opportunity to retaliate. 
But Charles knew his rival to be a chivalrous foe 
and trusted without hesitation to his word of honor, 
marching to Paris, where, as we are told, " the Em- 
peror was received as if the God of Paradise had 
descended." 

This is the story of an unworthy son of Ghent, 
who wrote a full description of the event, telling 
of the honorable reception of Charles by his old 
enemy, the march onward to Brussels, and the fur- 
ther march to Ghent, which was reached on the 
14th of February, 1540. 

Where now were the defiant rebels who had so 
boldly risen against their distant monarch? Not 



CHARLES V. 33 

the glint of a sword was now seen, not a tone of de- 
fiance heard. The gates of the city stood open to 
its powerful invader, who marched in, followed as 
bodyguard by four thousand lancers, one thousand 
archers, and five thousand musketeers, all armed 
to the teeth. For six hours the warlike procession 
continued, the Emperor in the midst of his army, 
surrounded by " cardinals, archbishops, bishops and 
other great ecclesiastical lords " and attended by a 
brilliant train of " dukes, princes, earls, barons, 
grand masters, and seignors, together with most of 
the Knights of the Fleece." There were so many 
'^ grand lords, members of sovereign houses, bishops 
and other ecclesiastical dignitaries going about the 
streets that there was nobody else to be met with.^^ 

Evidently the truculent artisans and burghers 
whose acts of rebellion had led to this demonstration 
kept well out of sight during the occupation of their 
city by this army of Spanish worthies. Too late they 
realized the doom they had invited. The annalist 
we have quoted from was especially dazzled by the 
fine clothes of the invaders. He speaks eloquently 
of " the nobility and great richness of the princes and 
seignors, displayed as well in their beautiful furs, 
martins and sables, as in the great chains of fine 
gold which they wore twisted around their necks, 
and the pearls and precious stones in their bonnets 
and otherwise, which they displayed in great abun- 
dance. It was a very triumphant thing to see them 
thus richly dressed and accoutred.^^ 

Such was the pomp and show of this threatening 
arrival. And such were the size and wealth of the 
city that it was able to accommodate its sixty thou- 
3 



34 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

sand visitors, with their fifteen thousand horses, 
during the months of the Emperor's stay within its 
walls. 

This visit was one of terror and despair to the 
citizens, mingled with occasional glimpses of hope 
as time passed without action being taken. For a 
month they were kept in suspense before Charles 
gave them a hint of his intentions. Then, on the 
17th of March, he began his work of vengeance by 
the execution of nineteen persons who had been 
arrested as ringleaders in the revolt. Another in- 
terval passed, until the 29th of April, before he 
pronounced his final sentence upon the rebellious 
city. 

On that day, in the great public hall of the city, 
the Emperor and Mary, Queen Eegnant of the 
Netherlands, with the great functionaries of church 
and state, seated themselves before a throng that 
filled the hall to its capacity, and the decree of the 
despot was read. 

All the older charters and rights of the city were 
abolished en masse. All the public property of the 
community and everything possessed in common by 
the guilds and corporations were confiscated. The 
great bell Roland, the emblem of liberty, the. pride 
of the city, was ordered to be removed from its lofty 
perch. As for the 400,000 florins tax, which had 
led to the insurrection, it was ordered to be paid, with 
150,000 additional, and 6000 a year forever after- 
ward. And against this severe sentence no man 
dared raise his voice, though rage and despair filled 
all souls. 

This was not all. The ancient free institutions 



CHARLES V. 35 

of the city were destroyed by a blow, all political 
power was taken from the citizens, every vestige of 
self-government abolished. And to add insult and 
bitter humiliation to injury a select number of the 
highest officials and chief burghers of the city, with 
the great and second dean of the weavers, all dressed 
in black robes, with a hundred of lesser estate, in 
their shirts and with halters upon their necks, were 
to fall on their knees before the Emperor, and, by 
the voice of one of their clerks, express sorrow for 
their disloyalty, promise never to do the like again, 
and humbly implore their imperial master, for the 
sake of the Passion of Jesus Christ, to grant them 
mercy and forgiveness. 

On the day appointed for the execution of this 
humiliating decree the streets were lined with armed 
troops, cavalry and infantry keeping guard in great 
numbers at every notable point. Such a precaution 
was necessary, for the indignation of the citizens was 
deadly and the least lack of display of force might 
have led to a bloody outbreak. 

Nothing of the kind took place. The precaution 
against it had been too complete. At the appointed 
hour the senators and others in their black robes, the 
chosen citizens in linen sheets and with halters on 
their necks, mournfully proceeded from the senate 
house to the residence of the Emperor. 

Here, on a high throne, sat Charles, the Queen 
Eegnant by his side, his crown on his head and 
sceptre in hand, princes, prelates and nobles sur- 
rounding, and soldiers on guard against possible 
disorder. 

Before them the senators and burghers knelt in 



36 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

bitter shame while the chosen clerk read the words of 
contrition and supplication. Meanwhile the Em- 
peror, with a dramatic show of straggling between 
anger and forgiveness, sat in silence. 

At this point Queen Mary, the Emperor's sister 
and his representative in the Netherlands, took part 
in the humiliating show. Turning towards his 
Majesty, "with all reverence, honor and humility 
she begged that he would concede forgiveness, in 
honor of his nativity, which had occurred in that 
city." Charles, in fact, forty years before had been 
born in Ghent, which he now so signally dishonored. 

The Emperor now, "with a fine show of benig- 
nity,'' replied, that from his " fraternal love for her, 
by reason of his being a gentle and virtuous prince, 
who preferred mercy to the rigor of justice, and in 
view of their repentance, he would accord his pardon 
to the citizens." 

And all this because they had declined to supply 
money in support of a war that in no way con- 
cerned them or their country. Its severe punishment 
proved disastrous to Ghent. From that time it 
began to decay. In later years it suffered severely in 
the various wars in the Netherlands, and it never 
regained its old supremacy among the cities of that 
land. To-day it is a busy and populous city, with 
a deep canal connecting it with the sea and a harbor 
capable of containing 400 vessels, but its supremacy 
received a fatal check on that memorable day. 



CHAPTER TV 

HOW AN" EMPEROR RETIRED FROM BUSIISTESS 

The 25th of October, 1555, witnessed an event 
that has very rarely occurred in the history of the 
world, that of the withdrawal of a great and powerful 
monarch from the glories and cares of the throne 
to the quiet enjoyments of private life. On that day 
Charles I., King of Spain, who for thirty-six years 
had been head of the Holy Roman Empire and the 
most powerful monarch that Europe had known 
for centuries, threw aside of his own free will the 
robes and privileges of his great estate and elected to 
spend the remainder of his life in the seclusion of a 
monastery — possibly to pray for forgiveness for the 
evils he had done and the cruelties he had com- 
mitted. 

History yields us but one other notable instance of 
such a voluntary abdication, that of Diocletian, Em- 
peror of Rome, who in the year 305 a.d. withdrew 
from his great office and devoted the remainder of 
his life to the cultivation of a vegetable garden. Of 
the two duties of his life he seemed to much prefer 
the latter. When Galerius, his colleague and suc- 
cessor, condoled with him on the splendors he had 
lost, Diocletian replied, "But you ought to come 
and see the fine cabbages I have raised." 

As for Charles V., he is said to have spent much 
time in his retirement in seeking to make the clocks 
of the monastery keep the same exact time, and found 
this a more difficult duty than that of governing an 
empire. 

37 



38 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

It had been ill health that caused Diocletian to 
withdraw. It was the same in the case of Charles V. 
Though only fifty-five years of age, he was worn out 
with cares and duties, especially with his trencher 
activities, for he had long been a gourmand of the 
most pronounced type and had made himself a victim 
of gout that cost him many a nerve-racking twinge. 

This by way of introduction. Let us now return 
to the memorable event of the abdication of our em- 
peror. A son of Belgium, Charles selected that land 
as the scene of his withdrawal from imperial dignity, 
but did not have the effrontery to choose Ghent, his 
birthplace, for the ceremony. He could not well 
forget the nature of his last appearance in Ghent and 
the severe doom which he had laid upon that flourish- 
ing city. 

The place selected was the city of Brussels, now 
the capital of Belgium, then the capital of the prov- 
ince of Brabant and a gay and prosperous munici- 
pality of about 100,000 population. At that time 
and for two hundred years earlier it had been sur- 
rounded with walls six miles in circumference and 
stood in the midst of a highly fertile district, marked 
by shady groves, with rich gardens and fields for 
miles around. Near by was the great forest of 
Soignies, which, while containing many monasteries 
and convents, swarmed with wild game and formed a 
favorite hunting ground for the sportsmen of the city. 

Brussels, like most of the cities of the Nether- 
lands, had its noble examples of architecture, chief 
among them being the lofty tower of its town hall, 
three hundred and sixty-six feet in height, it having 
thus a foot for every day in the year, with one addi- 



HOW AN EMPEROR RETIRED 39 

tional for leap year, while all these numerous feet 
of stone were carved in the most elaborate manner. 

The place chosen for the important ceremony of 
the abdication was the residence of the Dukes of 
Brabant, a spacious building dating back to some 
two and a half centuries earlier. In its front was a 
large open space, in its rear a broad and beautiful 
park, while the main entrance opened upon a hall 
that was celebrated for its size and rich decorations, 
its walls being hung with magnificent tapestry. 

In this grand hall had long been held the meetings 
of the famous order of the Golden Fleece, and it was 
chosen as an appropriate place for the important 
ceremony now to be performed. For this had been 
erected a wide platform, reached by a flight of six or 
seven steps and containing rows of seats, covered 
with tapestry, for the use of the dignitaries who were 
to witness the remarkable ceremony. On the floor 
below was a range of benches for the use of the 
deputies of the seventeen provinces of the Nether- 
lands. In the center of the stage was a splendid 
canopy, bearing the arms of Burgundy, and covering 
three gilded arm-chairs. 

As the fixed hour approached, the great hall grad- 
ually filled, the seats on the stage being the last to 
be occupied. All the doors were guarded by archers 
and halberdiers, who kept careful watch over the 
multitude as they entered. As the clock struck 
three the hero of the scene — Caesar, as the Emperor 
was in those days designated — entered the hall, lean- 
ing on the shoulder of a young man who was in later 
years to play a great part in the history of the Nether- 
lands, William, Prince of Orange. Following them 



40 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

came Philip, the Emperor's son, who was to succeed 
him, and Queen Mary of Hungary, sister of the 
Emperor and Eegent of the JSTetherlands. After 
them came the great personages who were to occupy 
the remainder of the stage, including Archduke Maxi- 
milian, the Duke of Savoy, and a glittering array of 
warriors, governors, and Knights of the Fleece. 

In years Charles V. had reached only middle age. 
In appearance he was a decrepit old man. Of 
medium height and athletic build, he had once been 
able to perform ably all the duties of leader and 
soldier, bear fatigue and exposure equally with his 
followers, in sports to hold his own with com- 
petitors in the tourney, and in the bull-ring to van- 
quish the bull with his own imperial hand. 

But all these powers were gone. He now appeared 
crippled in hands and legs, walking with difficulty by 
the aid of a crutch and of the shoulder of an attend- 
ant. Always of very ugly face, he was now painfully 
so. His upper lip was heavy and hanging and his 
lower lip protruded so far that his fragments of 
teeth failed to meet and his speech had grown in a 
measure unintelligible. For a man who had been 
specially addicted alike to eating and speaking these 
were serious deprivations. 

His son, who was to succeed him as the famous — 
or rather infamous — Philip II., resembled him 
closely in face, having the same heavy upper lip and 
highly protruding lower jaw, hereditary in the Bur- 
gundian family. But in form he presented none of 
his father's athletic proportions. He was, on the 
contrary, a small, meager man, much below middle 
height, with narrow chest and a timid, shrinking air. 



HOW AN EMPEROR RETIRED 41 

Of few words and embarrassed manner, he had the 
habit of looking downward when he spoke, and was 
habitually inclined to silence. As to his mental char- 
acter, history has sufficiently portrayed it. In all 
history, in fact, it would be difficult to find a less 
estimable personac^e, — at least, one of his high estate. 

The three royal personages being duly seated on 
the gilded chairs provided for them, the ceremonies 
began with a long oration by Philibert de Bruxelles, 
a member of the council of the Netherlands. In this 
he spoke of the Emperor's warm affection for the land 
of his birth and his deep regret that his failing 
powers, of body and mind, forced him to relinquish 
the sovereignty. He eloquently depicted the tortures 
which he suffered from the gout, " a most truculent 
executioner which invades the whole body from the 
crown of the head to the soles of the feet, leaving 
nothing untouched.'' Struggling with such A mortal 
enemy, Csesar felt obliged to change the scene of 
the contest with the internal foe from the humid 
air of Flanders to the warmer atmosphere of Spain, 
and to yield his labors to his son, a man of vigor 
and experience, well fitted to take up the sceptre 
which he was obliged to lay down. 

As the orator ceased after reading the deed of 
cession to Philip, there was a buzz of comment 
throughout the assembly, with expressions of regret 
that the provinces should be left without their able 
defender. 

The Emperor now rose, calling to his side the 
handsome youth on whose shoulder he had leaned on 
entering the hall, the Prince of Orange. Young as 
the Prince then was, only twenty-two, he had already 



42 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

shown such ability in the field that he had been ap- 
pointed by the Emperor commander-in-chief of the 
army against such capable soldiers as the Admiral 
Coligny and the Duke of Nevers. 

Eesting on his crutch and on the strong shoulder 
of the Prince, the Emperor addressed the audience, 
reading from a paper in which he rapidly reviewed 
the events of his reign. It had been an active and 
notable one. But now that his strength was vanish- 
ing and life fast ebbing, his affection for his subjects 
and regard for their interests required his with- 
drawal from the too weighty task. Instead of a de- 
crepit man, with one foot in the grave, he was glad 
to present them with a sovereign in the prime of life 
and the vigor of health. 

Turning towards Philip, he concluded with a 
peroration in which he voiced his trust that his son 
would prove worthy of the high office given over to 
him, and begging pardon of those present for all 
errors or offences he had committed towards them 
during his reign, assuring them that he would always 
gratefully remember their obedience and affection. 

These words, and the appeal for sympathy which 
they conveyed, greatly affected the hearers, sobs 
being heard from all parts of the hall, while tears 
were freely shed. As for the Emperor, he grew ashy 
pale as he concluded, and sank almost fainting upon 
his chair. Even the cold Philip was partly softened, 
as he fell upon his knees and reverently kissed his 
father^s hand. Charles placed his hands solemnly 
on his son's head, made the sign of the cross, and 
blessed him in the name of the Holy Trinity. Then 
he lifted and tenderly embraced him, with wordb 



HOW AN EMPEROR RETIRED 43 

expressive of concern for the heavy weight which he 
would have to bear. 

As Philip could speak neither Flemish nor French, 
he left his reply to the Bishop of Arras, whose fluent 
commonplaces were followed by a long harangue from 
Jacob Maas, a member of the Council of Brabant, who 
g 'acefully accepted the abdication in Philip's name. 

The final phase of the ceremonies was the resig- 
nation of Queen Mary of Hungary, who had been 
Regent of the Netherlands for the past twenty-five 
years, and who in a brief address expressed her affec- 
tion for the people and her hope that all errors she 
might have committed would be forgiven. 

One might think from all this that the people of 
the Netherlands had much to thank their late ruler 
for and great reason to regret his resignation of the 
throne. In truth, his reign over them had been one 
of oppression and frightful cruelty. A rigid Catholic, 
he had introduced the Inquisition into their country, 
vtdth the result that an enormous number of so-called 
heretics had been put to death — ^burned, strangled, 
beheaded, or buried alive — often for such slight 
offences as reading the Bible, looking askance at a 
graven image, or ridiculing the doctrine that the 
wafer of the communion held the flesh and blood 
of Christ. The number of victims to this horrible 
persecution are estimated as at least 50,000, while 
excellent authorities give it at 100,000. It is only 
the greater horrors that took place under the reign 
of Philip II. that have thrown these terrible acts of 
cruelty and fanaticism into the shade. 

In view of this one cannot but view the Emperor's 
sufferings as a partial retribution for these frightful 



44 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

excesses of bigotry. Certainly one cannot pity him 
when aware that his gout was really due to his ex- 
cesses in eating. Earely have we heard of a man of 
such monstrous powers in this respect. It was his 
habit to breakfast at five in the morning on a fowl 
seethed in milk. He dined at twelve, eating of not 
less than twenty dishes. He supped twice, once after 
vespers, the second time at midnight. The latter was 
the most solid of his four meals. The meat was fol- 
lowed by pastry and sweetmeats in profusion, while 
great draughts of beer and wine followed each meal. 

It is not surprising that the stomach of the im- 
perial gourmand failed after many years of such 
excess, or that gout assailed his limbs in all its fury. 
A celebrated answer is that of his cook, to whom 
he complained that all his food was insipid. The 
cook replied that he could do no more unless he 
served him a pasty of watches. The humor in 
this, at which Charles "laughed longer than he 
was ever known to laugh before and all the courtiers 
(of course) laughed as long as his Majesty,^^ lay in 
the fact that he was known to have a passion for 
timepieces. 

He lived three years in retirement, the wonder 
being that he survived so long, as his monstrous 
appetite for food was still fully indulged. When we 
survey him as feasting on " surfeits of sardine ome- 
lettes, Estramadura sausages, eel pies, pickled par- 
tridges, fat capons, quince syrups, iced beer and 
flagons of Rhenish, relieved by copious draughts of 
senna and rhubarb to which his horror-stricken doc- 
tor doomed him as he ate,'^ we can only be surprised 
that one poor stomach could bear it all so long. 



CHARTER V 

THE SIEGE OF ST. QUENTIN" 

The first notable event in the history of Philip II. 
of Spain occurred in 1557, two years after the abdi- 
cation of his father. This was the assault on and 
capture of the French city of St. Quentin, a mem- 
orable exploit, well worthy the telling. 

The army of Henry II. of France was at that date 
engaged in Italy, but at the same time the famous 
Gaspard Coligny, Admiral of France, was ordered 
to make a foray upon the frontier of Flanders. 
This uncalled-for act led to events disastrous to 
France. Coligny's first enterprise was an attack on 
the Flemish city of Donay, under the lead of a spy 
familiar with the weak spots in its defences. 

The attempt was made on the night of Epiphany, 
January 6, 1557, when the people, utterly unsus- 
pecting the presence of an enemy, were quietly at 
rest after a day of merrymaking and wassail. The 
plot was well devised and the sleeping city in im- 
minent peril. It was saved by an old woman, per- 
haps the only one awake. She saw the approaching 
troops, and ran shrieking through the town. The 
people, aroused by her clamor, ran to their defences 
and the assailants deemed it wise to withdraw. The 
disappointed French then turned upon Lens, a town 
of Artois, sacked it, and levelled it with the ground. 
Such was the opening affair in a disastrous war. 

Philip II. hastened to retaliate upon the invaders. 

45 



46 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

The husband of Queen Mary of England, he induced 
that queen to declare war against France and then 
hastened to Belgium, where he gave orders for the 
organizing of an army. This, nearly 50,000 strong, 
was put under the command of the Duke of Savoy ; 
the Count of Egmont, one of the leading nobles and 
the most capable soldier of his country, being chosen 
to lead the cavalry. Young, wealthy, handsome, 
valiant, this was a splendid opportunity for the am- 
bitious young noble. The dark clouds which were to 
roll over his future had not appeared on this horizon 
of his career. 

The French army was put under the command of 
Montmorency, Constable of France, who was accom- 
panied by the Admiral Coligny and the Marshal 
Saint Andre, with other Frenchmen of high rank 
in their train. The city of St. Quentin, to which 
Philip's army had laid siege, and the fall of which 
would endanger Paris, was the point upon which the 
march of the French was directed. 

St. Quentin, a wealthy and prosperous city, stood 
on an elevation above the Somme Eiver, in the vicin- 
ity of the Belgian frontier. It was surrounded by 
extensive suburbs and had a lake extending around 
three of its sides. This was thirty yards wide, deep 
in parts, a morass in others, and extended on the 
Flemish side half a mile from the city. 

St. Quentin was in no condition to stand a siege, 
and Admiral Coligny was sent forward with all speed 
to the aid of its garrison before it should be fully 
invested. His movement was too late. Stirred by 
anxiety, he outstripped his troops and reached the 
city almost alone. As the gates were closed behind 



SIEGE OF ST. QUENTIN 47 

him the road was blocked by the advancing enemy 
and the entrance of his battalions cut off. 

Coligny now had an almost impossible task. He 
did all in his power to strengthen the defences of the 
city and keep up the courage of its inhabitants, send- 
ing away all useless consumers and locking up the 
women in the churches lest their terror should infest 
the defenders. Yet he had few capable men and 
with all he could do affairs soon grew desperate. 

Eeinforcements were badly needed, and at length 
he discovered a route by which they might be intro- 
duced. There was a morass on one side of the city 
which could be crossed by some narrow paths, mostly 
under water, though in its center was a running 
stream that needed boats for its crossing. 

For this enterprise a force of four thousand in- 
fantry and two thousand cavalry was forwarded by 
Montmorency, Cologny gathering what boats he 
could obtain. The point selected for crossing was in 
full view of the enemy, but those near by were dis- 
persed by a sudden cannonade and the Constable at 
once began the transfer of his troops across the 
morass. But the boats provided were few and 
small, several were overturned and their inmates 
drowned, and the opposite bank was steep and dan- 
gerous. As a result few reached the town, but among 
these was Andelot, brother of Coligny, with five 
hundred men. 

Meanwhile the remainder of the French army, 
about sixteen thousand strong, had reached the place 
of crossing. In doing so they had passed through 
a narrow ravine, three miles away, between steep 
hills, a point which, if occupied by the enemy, might 



48 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

leave them in a serious predicament. While passing 
through this declivity in the morning the Constable 
had noticed its dangerous character, and had left a 
company of mounted carabineers to hold it. 

This weak point in the position of the enemy was 
perceived by Egmont, and with fiery energy he in- 
sisted upon taking advantage of it. Here was the 
great Constable Montmorency, one of the leading 
soldiers of the age; with him were princes of the 
royal blood and proud members of the chivalry of 
France, with an army of its bravest troops. Here 
was a chance for victory and glory. Savoy and others 
of the Flemish leaders doubted the expediency of an 
attack, but the vehemence of Egmont caried all be- 
fore it, and it was finally decided to try and cut off 
the Constable's retreat. 

Meanwhile Montmorency, having done his utmost 
to garrison the city, prepared to leave his perilous 
situation, sending the Due de Nevers, with four 
companies of cavalry, to strengthen the garrison of 
the pass. His precaution was too late. As Nevers 
neared the danger point, to his dismay he saw a 
body of two thousand of the Flemish cavalry riding 
into the defile. They outnumbered the force under 
him four to one, but he proposed to attack them and 
was restrained with difficulty from doing so, his 
officers pointing out that the Constable had given 
strict orders not to hazard an engagement until sus- 
tained by the body of the army. 

Hesitation in such a dilemma was fatal. Other 
bodies of Spanish and Flemish cavalry made the 
place impassable, and Nevers reluctantly fell back 
upon the main army, which was moving toward the 



SIEGE OF ST. QUENTIN 49 

pass. It was soon evident that the French had placed 
themselves within a deadly trap. The ravine, their 
only open avenne of escape, was now in full posses- 
sion of the enemy, and as they drew near Count 
Egmont gave the signal of assault, he leading in a 
charge on the left flank of the French at the head of 
two thousand men. As many more rode upon the 
right flank, while the front was vigorously assailed. 

These furious attacks proved irresistible. The 
camp followers, terror-stricken, fled in wild panic, 
spreading confusion throughout the army. The day 
was lost, terror everywhere prevailed, the rout was 
sudden and total. ISTevers rode through a hollow 
with some companies of cavalry in the hope of pre- 
senting a new front to the enemy, but he was over- 
whelmed by the fleeing French and their pursuers. 
Nevers, with a handful of followers, cut hjls way 
through and effected his escape, but the remainder 
of the army was entrapped. 

The cavalry had been nearly destroyed at the first 
onset. Some of the infantry held firm, retreating in 
order, but they were opened upon by artillery and 
before they could reach Essigny the army, as an 
organized body, had ceased to exist. 

It was an absolute defeat. Half the French 
troops engaged lost their lives. The remainder were 
captured or fled in utter disorder. When Nevers 
reviewed the wreck of the army at Laon only six 
thousand remained out of over twenty thousand. 
The Constable was a wounded captive. The Duke of 
Enghien, after brilliant efforts, had been mortally 
wounded. Many other French notables had been 
4 



60 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

taken, the Duke de Nevers, the Prince de Conde, and 
a few others alone escaping. 

As for the victorious army, only fifty men had 
lost their lives, two or three of those being men 
of distinction. When, the next day, King Philip 
entered the camp, a long procession of distinguished 
captives was marshalled before him, the Constable 
among them. Count Egmont had won a triumph 
for Philip such as few monarchs of Spain had ever 
enjoyed. So brilliant was the victory that it has 
been held worthy to be placed in the list with the 
famous British triumphs at Crecy and Agincourt. 
In honor of his signal success Philip soon after 
erected the magnificent palace of the Escorial, dedi- 
cated to the saint on whose day the battle had been 
fought. It was built in the form of the gridiron on 
which that martyred saint had lost his life. 

While the King was inspecting the spoils of the 
battlefield a horseman approached and presented him 
with a sword. 

" I am the man, may it please your Majesty,'^ said 
the soldier, "who took the Constable; here is his 
sword. May your Majesty be pleased to give me 
something to eat in my house ? ^^ 

" I promise it," said Philip, presenting his hand 
to be kissed by the victor. 

Ten thousand ducats was the prize always awarded 
for such a feat. But the soldier's claim was dis- 
puted. Captain Valenzuela, a Spaniard, made a 
like demand. The trooper at once advanced to the 
Constable, who stood in the group of titled captives. 
"Your Excellency is a Christian," he said; 
" please to declare upon your conscience and the 



SIEGE OF ST. QUENTIN 53 

faith of a cavalier, whether it was I that took you 
prisoner. It need not surprise your Excellency that 
I am but a soldier, since with soldiers his Majesty 
must wage his wars." 

'*^ Certainly," replied the Constable. "You took 
me and my horse and I gave you my sword. My 
word, however, I pledged to Captain Yalenzuela.'^ 

The matter was finally adjusted by the soldier giv- 
ing the captain two thousand of his ducats. 

Such was the brilliant affair of St. Quentin. This, 
with some others that followed, won also by Egmont, 
compelled the signing of the most disastrous treaty 
ever made in the history of France. 

Our story, however, is not yet ended. St. Quentin 
still held out. Though Coligny had but eight hun- 
dred soldiers and Paris lay undefended except by the 
few men under the Duke of Nevers, Philip, ^ king 
notable for lack of enterprise, could not be induced 
to advance until the city had been taken. And 
Coligny held bravely out, knowing that every day 
thus gained would be of advantage to his country. 

A period of mining and countermining succeeded, 
followed by a week of cannonading, and then by 
a furious assault through the breaches made in the 
walls. Eesistance was soon at an end. Coligny and 
his brother Andelot were taken and St. Quentin 
fell into the hands of the victors. 

The scene that followed was one of almost unmen- 
tionable horror. A frightful carnage followed the 
victory, with a sack of the city which continued until 
the close of the following day, every house being 
entered and plundered and every man and woman 
found in them murdered. In the end the women 



52 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

who had been confined in the cathedral and other 
churches were driven from the town, half naked, 
half starved, many of them maimed, all on foot 
except the young children, leaving their native city 
in terror and despair. No city was left for them 
to return to, the place being set on fire and burned 
to the ground. And all this took place at the com- 
mand, or in the presence, of the devout Philip II. 
It was, however, but the beginning of his sanguinary 
career, in which the people of the Netherlands were 
to suffer still greater and more protracted horrors. 

One event of considerable interest followed. Of 
the two distinguished prisoners taken in the city, 
Coligny and Andelot, the latter made his escape 
during the night. The Admiral was taken to Ant- 
werp, where he was attacked by fever and for weeks 
lay sick. On recovering, finding nothing better to 
do, he occupied himself with reading the Scriptures. 
It proved a dangerous pastime, his reading opening 
his mind to new religious views and converting him 
from Catholicism to Calvinism. What followed is 
familiar history. He became the leader of the Prot- 
estant party in France, and in 1572 became the 
most distinguished victim in the massacre of St. 
Bartholomew. 



CHAPTER VI 

THE INQUISITION" IN THE NETHERLANDS 

The era with which we are now dealing was one 
unequalled in atrocities committed in the name of 
religion, especially in Spain, where the Inquisition 
long ruled supreme, and later in the Netherlands, 
in which it was introduced by Charles V. and his 
bigoted and soulless son Philip II. 

These were the days in which the mental gloom 
of the Dark Ages was being dissipated by the in- 
creasing glow of civilization. Education was spread- 
ing. People had begun to think on such abstruse 
subjects as human rights in politics and religion. 
The multitude began to have opinions and entertain 
views. And those extended to the tabooed ^subject 
of religious belief. No longer content to have the 
priesthood do their thinking, men proposed to think 
for themselves, and heresy — disbelief in the creed 
of the Catholic hierarchy — spread far and wide. 

All over northern Europe these views spread. 
Luther boldly flung forth the seeds of heresy and 
they widely took root. They grew up freely in the 
Netherlands, and little less freely in southern Eu- 
rope, for the Inquisition found victims for its fright- 
ful crusade by thousands in Spain. Introduced by 
Charles Y. and his son Philip II. into the Nether- 
lands, its victims were still more multitudinous. 
The subject is a revolting one, but the history of 
that country is full of it. 

The frightful edict of 1551, enacted by Charles 

53 



64 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

v., and re-enacted by Philip II., on coming to the 
throne, was the law concerning heresy in the 
Netherlands during many years of the reigns of 
these crowned bigots. 

It forbade any one to possess any book or writing 
made by Martin Luther, John Calvin, or other promi- 
nent Protestants, to injure in any way the images 
of the holy virgin or the saints, to hold heretical 
assemblies, even to converse or dispute concerning 
the Holy Scriptures, or for any person to read, 
teach, or expound the Scriptures, except those who 
had studied theology in some orthodox university, 
or to entertain any of the opinions of Luther and 
other Protestant leaders. 

How were those who practised such crimes to be 
punished ? By fine or imprisonment, or other mild 
form of legal control ? On the contrary, they were 
to be burned alive and their property confiscated 
to the crown. Even if they proved repentant and 
agreed to come back to the bosom of the Church, 
their doom was little mitigated. Even in such 
cases they were to be executed, the men by the 
sword, the women by being buried alive, their 
property still being confiscated. 

Those who knew and failed to betray a heretic, 
or in any way entertained them, were to be dealt 
with in the same way. And treachery or false accusa- 
tion was encouraged by giving the informer half 
the property of the victim where not over one 
hundred pounds Flemish, and ten per cent, of all 
property above this amount. 

Shall we give some of the particulars of the 
operation of this frightful edict? Re-enacted by 



INQUISITION IN THE NETHERLANDS 65 

Philip in the first month of his reign, little was 
done with it during the French war, but in 1561 
and later persecution was carried out with terrible 
vigor. We have spoken of the army of victims who 
suffered during the reign of Charles. Under Philip 
the horrors went on in monstrous excess. 

Among the inquisitors appointed to harry the 
Netherlands the name of Peter Titelmann stands 
first for atrocity. Traversing the most populous 
portion of the country with incessant activity, this 
arch inquisitor subjected to torture and burning all 
whom he found the least reason to suspect. 

The chronicles of the time give a lurid picture 
of this demon of cruelty, who carried out his fright- 
ful functions with a degree of Jocularity, indulging 
in jests as he tore suspected persons from their fire- 
sides or their beds, thrust them into dungeons, 
strangled, tortured, burnt without mercy, and often 
with scarcely a shadow of evidence against them. 

His security against retribution on the part of his 
victims excited the curiosity of Eed-Eod, as the secu- 
lar sheriff was familiarly called. Meeting him one 
day on the road, Red-Rod asked : 

'^ How can you venture to go about alone, or at 
most with an attendant or two, arresting people on 
every side, while I do not attempt to execute my 
office except at the head of a strong force in armor 
of proof ; and then only at the peril of my life ? " 

" Ah, Red-Rod,^' answered Peter, " you deal with 
bad people. I have nothing to fear, for I seize only 
the innocent and virtuous, who make no resistance, 
and let themselves be taken like lambs." 

"Very well/' answered Red-Rod, "but if you 



56 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

arrest all the good people and I all the bad, it is 
hard to tell who in the world is to escape chastise- 
ment/^ 

Here are some examples given by Motley. Hear- 
ing that a certain schoolmaster was addicted to 
reading the Bible, Titelmann summoned the culprit 
and accused him of heresy. The schoolmaster 
claimed, if he had committed any sins, to be tried 
before the judges of his town. 

"You are my prisoner," said Titelmann, ^^and 
are to answer to me and none other." 

Questioning the prisoner, he soon learned that 
he had really committed the atrocious crime of read- 
ing the Bible, and had even gone so far as to think 
about what he had read. The inquisitor bade him 
recant. The schoolmaster refused. 

"Do you not love your wife and children?" 
asked Titelmann. 

" God knows," he replied, " that if the whole 
world were of gold, and my own, I would give it all 
only to have them with me, even if I had to live on 
bread and water and in bondage." 

" You have, then, only to renounce the crime of 
your opinions." 

" Neither for wife, children, nor all the world 
can I renounce my God and religious truth," was 
the reply. 

As a result Titelmann sentenced him to the 
stake. He was strangled and his body thrown into 
the flames. 

Another, a tapestry weaver, was found to have 
copied some hymns from a book printed in Geneva 
and for this act of wickedness was burned alive. 



INQUISITION IN THE NETHERLANDS 57 

A third was hacked to death with seven blows of a 
rusty sword, in the presence of his wife, who died 
with horror at the sight. 

One Walter Kapell, who was burned for heresy, 
had won the love of the poor people of Bixmude, 
where he resided) by his kind acts of charity. A 
poor idiot, whom he had helped, called out to the 
men who were binding his benefactor to the stake : 
"Ye are bloody murderers; that man has done no 
wrong, but has given me bread to eat." 

When the flames were kindled the idiot flung him- 
self into them and was rescued with difficulty. A 
day or two later he took the half -burned body from 
the stake and carried it on his shoulders to the 
house in which the burgomaster and other magis- 
trates were in session. Forcing his way in, he threw 
the skeleton at their feet, crying: 

" There, murderers ! Ye have eaten his flesh ; 
now eat his bones.'^ 

One fanatical heretic, bent on martyrdom, forced 
his way into the church when the priest was holding 
up the consecrated host, seized it from his hands, 
broke it in two, and cried out : 

"Misguided men, do you take this thing to be 
Jesus Christ, your Lord and Saviour ? " 

This said, he threw the fragments on the floor and 
trampled them under foot. For this he was tortured 
to discover his accomplices, if he had any. Then his 
right hand and foot were burned and twisted off 
between red-hot irons, his tongue was torn out, and 
he was burned to death over a slow fire in a manner 
that the American savages could not have surpassed. 

Such are a few examples of that reign of terror. 



58 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

which continued in Belgium for years, its victims 
being numbered by thousands and tens of thou- 
sands. Many other instances might be added, but 
a recital of all these atrocities would be simply to 
heap horrors upon horrors. 

At a later date, by order of Philip, the inquisitors 
were directed to punish heretics by executing them 
at midnight in their dungeons, binding their hands 
between their knees and slowly suffocating them in 
tubs of water. This method of secret drowning was 
used instead of public burning, not in fear of public 
reprobation, but in order that the heretic might not 
be consoled by the crown of vain-glory desired by 
the fanatical enthusiast. 

That the cruelty of the agents of the Inquisition 
aroused wide-spread indignation need scarcely be 
said. Its operations were abhorrent to many of 
every system of faith. But objection to these out- 
rages was dangerous, opposition more so, and the 
reign of terror long continued unopposed. The first 
marked act of resistance occurred in October, 1564. 

Christopher Smith, a Carmelite monk, known 
usually as Fabricius, an inmate of a monastery of 
Bruges, had left his seclusion, become a Protestant, 
taken a wife, and went to England, where for a 
time he preached the doctrines of the Keformation. 
Invited by friends, he returned to the Netherlands 
and became secretly a teacher of the Grospel at 
Antwerp. 

He was betrayed to the authorities by a woman, 
who, to gain the informer's fee, pretended to be a 
convert to his doctrines. He was at once arrested 
and put to the torture, but refused to betray any 



INQUISITION IN THE NETHERLANDS 59 

members of his congregation or to desert his faith. 
He was then condemned to the stake, and while 
awaiting execution wrote comforting letters to his 
friends, and sent a letter to the woman who had 
betrayed him, forgiving her and exhorting her to 
repent. His calmness and gentleness excited general 
admiration, and when he was led through the streets 
of the city to the stake much public feeling was 
manifested. 

He begged the people, who crowded threateningly 
around the procession, not to create a tumult in 
his cause, but bade them to be faithful to the great 
truth for which he was to die. The crowd, as they 
followed, sang in full chorus the hundred and 
thirtieth psalm. 

When the market place was reached the victim 
fell upon his knees to pray. But the executioner 
rudely forced him to rise and chained hini to the 
stake, fastening a leathern strap around his throat. 
This was more than the indignant populace could 
bear. They broke into a sudden tumult, flung a 
shower of stones at the soldiers and magistrates, and 
surged in upon the enclosed area to rescue the 
prisoner, the officials and soldiers being put to flight. 

The effort at rescue came too late. The execu- 
tioner, as he fled, had crushed in the head of the 
victim with a heavy hammer and pierced his body 
with a poniard. The fire had been kindled before 
this outbreak, and, as it mounted, the dead body fell 
into the flames. The charred remains were in the 
end bound to a stone and cast into the Scheldt. 

Among the numerous similar scenes of outrage 
none had excited so much indignation, and that 



60 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

night a placard, written in blood, was afiixed to the 
walls of the town-house, threatening revenge for the 
murder. This threat, however, was not carried out. 
As for the authorities, they arrested and hanged 
one of the rioters, but the others escaped. 

But the King, the devout Philip, boiled over with 
indignation on learning that any one had been bold 
enough to resist his decrees. A foul riot he called it, 
and wrote savage letters to his sister, the Duchess 
Margaret, then reigning in his name over the Nether- 
lands, commanding instant vengeance to be taken 
on the rioters. But who they were no one knew and 
the despof s anger had no effect. 

So horrible became the executions that Catholics 
and Protestants alike were roused to indignation, 
the barbarities being inflicted chiefly upon people 
noted for blameless lives. The methods pursued by 
Peter Titelmann, who utterly ignored legal methods 
in his campaign of persecution, were especially 
repugnant, and the authorities of Bruges humbly 
requested the Duchess Eegnant to check him in his 
lawless activities. The four estates of Flanders 
addressed the king with a similar remonstrance, 
calling upon him to suppress the horrible enormities 
of Titelmann, which violated the ancient charters 
of popular rights which he had sworn to maintain. 

All such remonstrances were without effect. In 
the Privy Council they were " found to be in ex- 
tremely bad taste.'^ The Duchess, indeed, charged 
Titelmann to conduct himself in his office "with 
discretion and modesty.'' But to this he paid little 
heed, and continued his infamous proceedings, with- 
out check, until his death, several years later. 



INQUISITION IN THE NETHERLANDS 61 

Far from yielding to the requests of cities and 
provinces, the King redoubled his efforts to repress 
heresy. It was ordered that the edicts and the in- 
quisition should be published in every town and 
village of the Netherlands, and repeated every six 
months thereafter. 

This terrible decree led to a storm of indignation. 
The Prince of Orange whispered to his neighbor on 
the council board that they were about to witness the 
most extraordinary tragedy that had ever been en- 
acted. His judgment was seen in the results. The 
effect on business was paralyzing. A wave of fury 
ran through the land. Foreign merchants and arti- 
sans fled from Antwerp as from a visit of the plague. 
The principle of the Eeformation had spread widely 
throughout the land, and life and liberty were every- 
where threatened. 4 

The tide of indignation affected men of all creeds 
and beliefs. Citizens of the highest standing 
counselled disobedience to the outrageous decree. 
A formal denouncement came from the chief cities 
of Brabant. Pamphlets, handbills, and other forms 
of protest ^' snowed in the streets." Lampoons, in- 
vectives, remonstrances were issued and read avidly. 
In a striking letter to the King, the character of 
the sufferers was thus epitomized : " It is a common 
saying, 'He swears not; he is a Protestant: he is 
neither a fornicator nor a drunkard: he is of the 
new sect.' ^' 

This expressed the truth. The Protestants were 
mainly of the middle classes, industrious artisans of 
religious aspiration, men of rigid creeds and pure 
lives. N'obles and officials of high position pro- 



62 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

tected them, and many of those eventually adopted 
the creeds of which they had at first only defended 
the advocates. 

One important result of the persecutions was the 
emigration of large numbers of the people to alien 
lands. Protestant England offered a safe refuge, 
and more than thirty thousand Netherland artisans 
had already sought its shores. The result was dis- 
astrous to the Netherlands. The arts of cloth-mak- 
ing, silk-making, and dyeing declined in that country 
and became active in England. 

" For a long time," we are told, " the Netherlands 
have been the Indies to England; and as long as 
she has them she needs no others. The French try 
to surprise our fortresses and cities; the English 
make war upon our wealth and upon the purses of 
our people." 

In truth, the tide of trade was turned, as a con- 
sequence of the edicts of Philip the bigot. " Vessels 
now went every week from Sandwich to Antwerp, 
laden with silk, satin, and cloth, manufactured in 
England ; while as many but a few years before had 
borne the Flemish fabrics of the same nature from 
Antwerp to England." 

Such was one result of the persecutions, under 
which, by 1566, the execution of 50,000 persons in 
the provinces of the Netherlands, as stated by the 
Prince of Orange, is considered a moderate estimate. 

It had another result threatening the dominion 
of Spain in the Netherlands, the formation of a 
league pledged to oppose the Inquisition, the first 
step in the insurrection against Spanish rule that 
was soon to follow. 



CHAPTEE VII 

THE COMPROMISE AND THE BEGGARS' LEAGUE 

The King and his inquisitors had gone too far. 
Rebellion was in the air. It was not alone the Prot- 
estants who objected to the frightful persecutions; 
many Catholics joined them in protest. Nor was it 
alone the common people; the nobles shared their 
indignation. The earliest evidence of this was in 
the issue of the famous Compromise and the forma- 
tion of the Beggars' League. 

The Compromise was a covenant of nobles, 
directed against the Inquisition and the control of 
the Netherlands by a council of foreign law-makers 
sitting at Madrid. It declined the Inquisition as 
*^ iniquitous, contrary to all laws, human and divine, 
surpassing the greatest barbarism which was ever 
practised by tyrants, and as redounding to the dis- 
honor of God and to the total desolation of the 
country." 

The signers protested before God and man that 
they would attempt nothing opposed to the grandeur, 
majesty or dominion of the King, but declared that 
they had bound themselves by holy covenant and 
solemn oath to resist the Inquisition, and would 
oppose it in every shape it might assume, and to 
extirpate and eradicate the thing in any form, as 
the mother of all iniquity and dishonor. 

Such was the character of this first open protest 
against tyranny and torture in the Netherlands. It 



64 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

was said to have been written by Philip de Marnix, 
Lord of Sainte Aldegonde, one of the ancient nobility 
and a man of the highest accomplishments. The 
first to sign it were three men of prominence, Count 
Louis of Nassau, a man of knightly soul and chiv- 
alrous nature, Charles de Mansfield, and Count 
Brederode. 

Nicholas de Hammes, ^' Golden Fleece " as he was 
everywhere called, was the most active of the early 
members of the League, keeping the list of signers 
and seeking new ones in all quarters, until within 
two months it had received some two thousand 
signatures. 

There was nothing in the language of the Com- 
promise that would hinder Catholic patriots from 
signing it. It spoke bitterly of the tyranny of " a 
heap of strangers'^ who were seeking to persuade 
the King to violate his oaths, and denounced the re- 
fusal to mitigate the frightful severity of the royal 
edicts. 

Its signers were not the great nobles, such as the 
Prince of Orange, Counts Egmont and Horn, and 
others of high eminence. But among them were 
many sincere Catholics, all of them were young, 
and many lacked prudence and self-control. This 
does not apply to such leaders as Louis of Nassau 
and Sainte Aldegonde, but it does to Brederode and 
many others of the prominent leaguers. 

Early in March, 1566, an important step was de- 
cided upon by the confederates. This took the form 
of a petition — ^'' Request,'^ it was entitled — ^to be 
presented to the Duchess Eegent by a large niimber 
of members of the League. 



COMPROMISE AND BEGGARS' LEAGUE 65 

This purpose got abroad and the wildest exaggera- 
tions were set afloat. At a meeting of the council 
of the Duchess Margaret the Count de Meghen de- 
clared that an extensive conspiracy of heretics had 
been formed, an army of 35,000 men being organ- 
ized, ready to plunder the country, and that within 
a week 1,500 men-at-arms would appear before her 
Highness. As it proved, this dreaded invasion was 
made by a deputation of about three hundred gentle- 
men, Count Brederode at their head. 

Brederode was a nobleman descended from the 
ancient monarchs of Holland, a brave, generous, 
kind-hearted, high-spirited cavalier, but in habits 
headlong and debauched, and a fitting representative 
of his deep-drinking and hard-hitting ancestors. 

The cavalcade headed by this modern berserker 
rode into Brussels in the evening of April 3. They 
were on horseback, about two hundred in number, 
armed with pistols, at their head the tall and 
martial Brederode, whose handsome features and 
long curling locks won the approval of the thousands 
who crowded the streets through which they rode. 
There were many demonstrations of applause as 
the cavalcade passed onward through the avenues 
until it reached the mansion of Nassau, where 
Counts Louis and Brederode dismounted, leaving 
the rest of the company to seek quarters elsewhere. 

*^ They thought I should not come to Brussels," 
said Brederode. " Very well, here I am. Perhaps 
I shall depart in a different manner." 

During the next day a hundred more appeared, 
and on the morning of April 5 they set forth, 
marching two by two along a straight and hand- 
5 



66 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

some street, which led to the splendid mansion of 
the ancient dukes of Brabant, then occupied by the 
Duchess Margaret. Last of all came Brederode and 
Louis, walking arm in arm. 

An immense throng had gathered to greet the 
men whom the populace looked upon as their de- 
liverers from Spain and the Inquisition. Deafening 
cheers and loud hand-clappings told the sentiments 
of the multitude as the leaguers walked sturdily on- 
ward and entered the great hall, in which ten years 
before Charles V. had resigned the crown to his son. 
His daughter now awaited this significant delega- 
tion, seated in the chair of state in the council 
chamber and surrounded by the highest dignitaries 
of the land. 

When all had entered Brederode advanced to the 
seat of the Duchess, made a low obeisance, and said 
that he had come with his colleagues to present a 
humble petition to her Highness. He denounced the 
statements that they contemplated sedition and 
tumult as foul calumnies and called upon her to 
punish the slanderers of the loyal men for whom 
he spoke. With these remarks he presented the 
petition. 

As read aloud it proved to be loyal and devoted 
to the King and the Duchess, but stated in very 
plain language that the recent edicts relating to 
the Inquisition might result in a general insurrec- 
tion. The danger of sedition was near at hand ; they 
had waited in vain for some step to be taken to 
remedy the evil. As none had appeared they felt 
it necessary to come forward as their country's ad- 
vocates; and begged the Duchess Eegent to send 



COMPROMISE AND BEGGARS' LEAGUE 67 

an envoy who should humbly implore his Majesty 
to withdraw the edicts. And they begged her High- 
ness, while awaiting the King^s pleasure, to order 
a cessation of all executions until his Majesty had 
acted on their humble request. 

The Duchess listened to this paper with much 
agitation and emotion, tears flowing from her eyes 
as it closed. For a few minutes she could not speak. 
Then she briefly answered that she would advise 
with her council and give the petitioners such 
answer as appeared suitable. 

This said, the petitioners passed from the chamber 
into the great hall, each, on passing the Duchess, 
making the " caracole," or token of reverence then 
prevalent. 

An earnest debate followed in the council, the 
Prince of Orange remarking that the delegation 
were not seditious rebels, but loyal and well-born 
gentlemen, moved by an honest desire for the good 
of their country. Count Egmont, with a shrug of 
his shoulders, said that he would have to leave the 
court for a season, an inflammation in the leg 
rendering it necessary to visit the baths at Aix. 

After this irrelevant remark Signor Berlamont 
broke out angrily with a gibe which was quickly to 
bear notable fruit. 

" What, Madam," he passionately exclaimed, " is 
it possible that your Highness can entertain fears 
of these beggars (gueux) ? Is it not obvious what 
manner of men they are? By the living God, if 
my advice were taken, their petition should have a 
cudgel for a commentary, and we would make them 



68 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

go down the steps of the palace a great deal faster 
than they came up/' 

Others spoke as violently, and it is very likely 
that their noisy comments may have reached the 
ears of some of the gentlemen who lingered in the 
hall. It seems evident that they had heard Ber- 
lamont's insulting words. Later, as some of them 
passed his house, he repeated his gibe. 

" There go our fine beggars again," he said to a 
companion. " Look, I pray you, with what bravado 
they are passing before us." 

On the following day the confederates received 
the answer to their petition. The Duchess promised 
to send an envoy to the King, desiring him to grant 
the request. They might, in her opinion, look for a 
favorable reply. She had no power to suspend the 
action of the edict, but would give orders to all 
inquisitors to proceed " modestly '^ and " discreetly " 
in their office, so that no one would have cause to 
complain. Meanwhile she requested them to com- 
port themselves loyally and avoid any effort to inter- 
fere with the ancient religion of the land. 

The next important step, under Brederode's idea 
of the proper succession of events, was a dinner to 
his associates. This was given to the three hundred 
confederates at the mansion of the Count of Culem- 
burg, where a magnificent repast was prepared. 
This luxurious banquet, given on the 8th of April, 
is of importance, as it led to results of historical 
interest. 

Gold and silver were profuse on the banqueting 
board, wine flowed like water, the healths of Bre- 
derode. Orange and Egmont were a dozen times 



COMPROMISE AND BEGGARS' LEAGUE 69 

drunk with, loud acclaim, and the wine-heated ban- 
queters actively discussed the problem of giving an 
appropriate name to their brotherhood. 

In the midst of their oratory Brederode rose. 
He told the company that they had already been 
given a name. Master Berlamont had designated 
them as beggars. This statement was news to most 
of those present and he was interrupted by out- 
cries of indignation. But Brederode bade them be 
quiet and listen to him. 

'^ They call us beggars/' he said ; " let us adopt 
the name. We will contend with the Inquisition, 
but remain loyal to the King, even till compelled 
to wear the beggar's sack." 

He beckoned to a page, who brought him a leather 
wallet such as professional beggars then used, and 
also a large wooden bowl of the kind carped by 
that fraternity. Hanging the wallet around his 
neck, he filled the bowl with wine, lifted it to his 
lips, and drained it with a mighty draught. 

" Vivent les gueux " (" Long live the beggars "), 
he cried, and his words were echoed around the 
hall. It was a cry destined to be heard thereafter 
on land and sea, on many a hard-fought field and 
many a blood-stained deck. 

Brederode now threw the wallet around the neck 
of his next neighbor and handed him the bowl to 
drain it to the toast. Round the board these em- 
blems of the mendicant craft passed, from neck to 
neck and lip to lip, while roars of laughter and 
shouts of " Vivent les gueux " made the ancient 
walls quiver. They had a name that was to grow 
famous in after-times, in the deeds of the "wild 



70 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

beggars/^ "the wood beggars/' and more potently 
still, " the beggars of the sea/^ 

After the wallet and bowl had made their round, 
they were hung to a pillar in the hall, while each 
guest threw some salt into his goblet, stood beneath 
them, and repeated the following impromptu strain : 

"By this salt, by this bread, by this wallet 
we swear 
These beggars ne'er will change, though all 
the world should stare." 

This by no means ended the banquet. It simply 
gave zest to it. The wine-drinking and uproar 
grew in quantity and vehemence. They shouted, 
quaffed huge beakers, danced on chairs and tables, 
swore fidelity to their cause, grew half frantic with" 
drunken enthusiasm. 

In the height of the tumult the Prince of Orange, 
accompanied by Counts Egmont and Horn, entered 
the room, their purpose being to endeavor to bring 
the wild saturnalia to an end. So soon as they 
appeared they were surrounded by the revellers, 
who compelled them to drink a cup, amid shouts 
of '' Vivent le roi et les gueux," a cry whose signifi- 
cance they did not understand. Yet the brief pres- 
ence of Count Horn at this banquet, to which he 
had been brought against his will, was afterwards 
made a deadly charge against him. 

Orange and his companions remained but a few 
minutes, refusing to be seated, and by their en- 
treaties succeeded in bringing the wild revel to an 
end. When they arrived at the council chamber. 



COMPROMISE AND BEGGARS' LEAGUE 71 

the Duchess thanked them warmly for what they 
had done. 

As for the " beggars/' they were not content with 
the name they had adopted. A costume consistent 
with the new title seemed expedient. Discarding 
their gold lace and velvet, they decided on wearing 
doublets and short cloaks of ashen gray and of the 
coarsest material, with common felt hats, and with 
the wallets and bowls of mendicants at their sides. 
Medals of lead and copper were struck, the head 
of King Philip on one side, on the other two hands 
clasped within a wallet and the inscription : " Faith- 
ful to the King, even to wearing the beggar's sack." 

These they wore as hat buttons or suspended from 
their necks. Also they shaved their beards except 
their mustaches, which they wore long and hanging, 
this being a custom, in those days, of the €raft of 
beggars. 

Very soon after Brederode and his cavalier com- 
panions rode out of Brussels, saluting the admiring 
throng with a discharge of their pistols. Forty- 
three of them went with their leader to Antwerp, 
where they passed the night. Here a throng 
gathered around the hotel, and Brederode addressed 
them from a window, his wooden bowl, filled with 
wine, in his hand, his wallet by his side. 

He assured them that he was ready to die in the 
defence of the good people of Antwerp and the 
Netherlands against the edicts and the Inquisition, 
and drank their health, calling on all who were with 
him in his crusade to hold up their hands in evi- 
dence. This they all did, and clapped them loudly. 



72 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

after which Brederode drained his bowl in honor of 
the occasion. 

All these wild proceedings were duly chronicled 
and sent to the King at Madrid, with various em- 
bellishments. Thus it was reported and put on 
record that Brederode had eaten capons and other 
meat at Antwerp on Good Friday, which was the 
day of his visit to that city. He vehemently denied 
the charge. 

" They who have told Madame that we ate meat 
at Antwerp,'^ he wrote to Count Louis, "have lied 
wickedly and miserably, twenty-four feet down in 
their throats." 

He added that his nephew, Charles de Mansfield, 
had ordered a capon, but that he had countermanded 
the order. 

" They told me afterwards," he said, " that my 
nephew had broiled a sausage in his chamber. I 
suppose that he thought himself in Spain, where 
they allow themselves such dainties." 

Such was the origin of the beggars' fraternity, 
which was to fight Spain and its armies for many 
years to come and to win fame and fortune in many 
fierce combats on land and sea. 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE AVALANCHE OF THE IMAGE BREAKERS 

Bitterness against the edicts of persecution and 
the terrible excesses of the Inquisition was not con- 
fined to the nobles. It was felt by all classes. The 
Protestant reform had won converts in all sections of 
the community, and led in August, 1566, to an out- 
break of church desecration and image-breaking such 
as the world has rarely seen. For about a week the 
tumult continued, passing like a whirlwind through- 
out the country, until there was scarcely a church in 
the Netherlands that had not been visited and its 
precious contents destroyed. The people had long 
been growing ripe for mischief, and the formation 
of the fraternity of the Beggars gave point to the 
growing discontent. 

The Netherlands was a country of churches, many 
of them of splendid Gothic architecture and elabo- 
rate decoration. Hundreds of them existed, many 
filled with paintings and statues of the best t3^e of 
Holland and Belgium art. When the week of out- 
rage ended hardly a vestige of those treasures re- 
mained. Nearly every church in the land had been 
rifled of its choice possessions, taken not for plunder 
but for destruction, for these objects represented t( 
the people not gems of art, but emblems of the ruth .' 
less persecution which had long desolated tf 
country. 

Antwerp was the central point in this riotous out- 

73 



74 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

break, and its splendid cathedral — dating back to 
1124, but only recently completed, and enormously 
rich in penitential gifts and offerings of devotion — 
its central spot. All reverence for this magnificent 
church had died out in the minds of the multitude, 
who had grown to hate Catholicism and its temples 
and rites. The spirit of insurrection was rife in 
the land and it was here that it burst its bonds. 

On August 18 the great Papal ceremony of the 
Ommegang took place. It began with a procession 
in which a colossal image of the Virgin was borne 
through the streets, the guilds, the religious so- 
cieties, the rhetoricians, and other associations fol- 
lowing in procession to sound of trumpet and beat 
of drum. The showy pageant was irritating to the 
Protestants, who were very numerous among the 
onlookers, and they showed their sentiment by in- 
sulting gestures and cries. 

" Mayhen! Mayhen (little Mary) ! Your time 
has come. This is your last journey. The city is 
tired of you.^' 

This is a type of the greetings that were heard, 
and missiles were at times thrown at the paraders. 
No damage was done, however, and the image was 
restored in safety to the cathedral, the procession 
ending in a somewhat hurried manner. Instead of 
standing in the center of the chamber, as usual on 
such occasions, the image was placed behind an iron 
■"ailing within the choir, a precaution which called 
forth derisive utterances from the multitude. 

A huge crowd gathered in front of the cathedral 
on the following morning, including many vaga- 
bonds, idle apprentices and others of the rabble. 



AVALANCHE OF IMAGE BREAKERS 75 

who laughed and jeered on seeing the caged-in image. 

'^ Is Mayken terrified ? " they cried. " Hast thou 
flown to thy nest? Beware, Mayken, thy hour 
is coming fast." 

'' Vivent les gueux!" was the appeal of others 
some of whom bade the image to join in the beg- 
gars' cry. 

As these outrageous proceedings were allowed to 
go on unchecked, the dangerous element in the 
rabble soon passed all bounds. One ragged fellow 
mounted the pulpit, opened a sacred volume, and 
began to deliver a caricature of a monk's address. 

Some of the audience laughed at and applauded 
him, some cried '^ shame " and tried to pull him 
down. He vigorously resisted and went on with 
his scurrilous harangue, until a young sailor, of the 
Catholic faith, sprang up behind him ai^d flung 
him down the steps. They grappled and fought and 
a tumult followed in which pistols were fired and 
cudgels used, most of the crowd taking part against 
the sailor, whose friends finally conveyed him from 
the church. 

'News of this tumult soon reached the council at 
the Hotel de Ville, and threw the members into a 
state of wild perturbation. A dozen measures of pre- 
caution were debated, but nothing was decided on, 
and that night the burgomaster and magistrates 
went home to their beds, in the vain hope that the 
trouble would die out of itself. 

This absolute lack of common-sense on the part 
of the city fathers led to its natural effect. Seeing 
that no precaution against violence was taken, the 
reformers grew bolder. The next morning a great 



76 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

crowd of the dangerous element filled the cathedral, 
indulging in the same taunts as before. But some 
trifling incidents showed their temper. The stock 
in trade of an old woman, who sold wax-tapers and 
wafers on the cathedral steps, was destroyed and a 
fight ensued which soon spread to those within the 
cathedral. 

On hearing of this tumult the senators proceeded 
to the cathedral in a body, hoping by their presence 
and the dignity of their positions to quell the mob. 
A day of excitement followed, but as night ap- 
proached the church was emptied of most of its 
occupants, the senators leading the way. All the 
doors were closed but one, which was left open that 
those within the church might find their way out. 
It apparently did not occur to the worthy magis- 
trates that others might find their way in. 

Yet this was what occurred. The outer rabble 
forced their way through this open doorway, over- 
coming the opposition of the church officials, and 
soon all the doors were thrown wide open and a 
stream of rioters flowed in. The warders and 
treasurers fled, abandoning the valuable objects in 
their charge. The senators, informed of this new 
danger, made a futile effort to check the invasion 
and then fled in terror to the town-house, which 
they hastened to prepare to resist an attack. 

The whole affair had been conducted in the most 
insensate fashion. The town authorities had proved 
utterly destitute of fitness to meet an emergency, 
and they now left the stately cathedral to its fate. It 
was not long before the rioters, left free to act, began 
a work of ravage. Evening mass was replaced by a 



AVALANCHE OF IMAGE BREAKERS 77 

psalm, fiercely sung by a roar of hoarse voices. As 
it ended, the attack began. 

The image of the Virgin was dragged out into the 
aisle by a wild band, its jewelled garments were 
torn off, the body was broken into a thousand pieces 
and its fragments were strewn over the floor. Then 
a wild carnival of devastation commenced. Every 
statue was hurled down, every picture torn from 
the wall, every painted window smashed, every 
monument shattered. In a remarkably brief time 
the gathered treasures of the ancient church, some 
of them centuries old, were utterly destroyed. 

A colossal statue of Christ crucified between two 
thieves was torn down from the altar which it 
adorned, the images of the thieves being left in 
derision of its sacredness. Other splendid works of 
art were utterly ruined, axes, hammers and /cudgels 
being used to break them into shreds. N'othing 
escaped. Seventy chapels were desecrated. Golden 
chalices were employed in drinking draughts of the 
sacramental wine to the beggars' health. All the 
splendid missals and manuscripts were burned. 
And this frightful work of destruction is said to 
have been done by not more than a hundred ma- 
rauders, the remaining crowd looking on but not 
taking part. 

Thus was the interior of the most splendid church 
in the Netherlands reduced to ruin in a few hours 
of that midsummer night, treasures which it had 
taken centuries to gather being in that brief space 
converted into heaps of rubbish. Their work done 
in this quarter, the rioters ran howling through the 
streets, each bearing a blazing torch and hurling to 



78 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

the earth every sacred image found "iipon their path. 
From one church to another they went, until before 
morning thirty churches had been sacked and all 
their altars, statues, pictures, and other objects of 
value ruined. The monasteries and nunneries were 
invaded, and monks and nuns filled the streets, 
seeking safety wherever to be found. As for the 
people of wealth, they waited in trembling appre- 
hension, thinking that their homes would next be 
attacked and robbed, and rape and murder follow. 

They had no reason to fear. In all this night of 
terror no insult or injury was offered to man or 
woman. It was against the graven image, not 
against the living person, that the fury of the 
rioters was directed. And no thought of robbery 
appeared to exist. So far as is known, not a far- 
thing's worth of the treasures assailed was kept as 
plunder. All were destroyed. It was a sudden and 
irresistible outbreak arising from the persecution of 
the inquisitors, which had aroused the reformers 
to a pitch of fanatical fury no longer to be re- 
strained. 

For two days and nights longer this work went 
on in the churches of Antwerp and its vicinity. 
When it had ended hardly a statue and picture 
remained intact. Many of these were doubtless of 
minor value as works of art, the great Dutch 
artists, Eubens in particular, not having as yet 
appeared to adorn the city with their noble work. 
But of such treasures as existed the destruction was 
complete, and the end of that carnival of iconoclasm 
left the churches of the city in a state of indescrib- 
able ruin. Yet not a man or woman was injured. 



AVALANCHE OF IMAGE BREAKERS 79 

and prisoners, whose captivity seemed hopeless, 
were set free, one of these a monk who for twelve 
years had languished in the prison of the Barefoot 
Monastery. 

This outbreak, which a little preliminary pre- 
caution would have averted, did not stop in Ant- 
werp. It spread everywhere as news of it extended. 
The feeling of exasperation was universal and, as 
news of the Antwerp outbreak widened, it led in 
every quarter to similar attacks on the churches. 
No one knows how many of these sacred edifices 
were broken into and sacked, there being not less 
than four hundred in one province, that of Flanders. 
In Mechlin the work of destruction was done by 
seventy or eighty persons, the magistrates looking 
on in helpless dismay. 

In Tournay, a city of great ecclesiastical splendor, 
but in which the religious hostility was intense, the 
work of the iconoclasts was thorough. The existing 
irritation was indicated a few days in advance by a 
trifling but significant incident. A Jesuit, preaching 
in the church of Notre Dame, told his hearers that 
his ardent wish was that he were good enough to die 
for them. He declared that no man should shrink 
from martyrdom in the service of the ancient faith. 

In the midst of his fervid oration three sharp, 
sudden blows, of peculiar character, were made on 
the door of the church. On hearing them the would- 
be martyr grew ashy pale and dropped under the 
pulpit. From there he fled to the vestry and hastily 
locked and barred the door. A similar panic ran 
through the audience, and with cries of " The beg- 
gars are coming" they rushed wildly out of the 



80 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

cathedral and through the streets, the whole city 
being thrown into a sudden tumult. 

Nothing could have shown more clearly the ex- 
cited state of public feeling, for when the cause of 
this wild flight became known it proved to be ridicu- 
lously trivial. A little urchin^ who had been bath- 
ing in the river, had returned with a couple of 
swimming bladders under his arm. On passing the 
cathedral the spirit of mischief led him to strike 
the door with his swollen bladders. It was this 
bit of boyish playfulness that led to an uproar in 
which the frightened congregation fancied that the 
whole city was doomed to destruction. 

This incident showed that Tournay was resting 
above a mine of explosive feeling. The existing 
apprehension proved to be well founded, the peril 
becoming frightfully evident when, a few days later, 
on the 22d of August, the tidings of the sacking of 
the churches in Antwerp and other cities arrived. 
The news was like a match applied to an explosive 
mine. A disorderly movement at once began which 
was quieted with difficulty. A "guard of terror" 
was set and the magistrates went to bed as in Ant- 
werp with the hope that the excitement might blow 
over. 

It was a vain hope. At daybreak of the next 
day the mob was in the street, bent upon mischief. 
In a brief period the churches were broken open 
and were being stripped of their valued contents. 
Pictures, statues, chalices of silver and gold, lamps, 
censers, all the rich furniture, much of it glittering 
with precious stones, were torn from their recepta- 
cles and flung in heaps upon the floor, to be trodden 
under foot by the maddened mob. 



AVALANCHE OF IMAGE BREAKERS 81 

Throughout the city they went, and then spread 
to the country, armed with such weapons as they 
could seize, and bent on utter ruin of ecclesiastical 
objects. The convent of Marchennes, the most 
beautiful abbey in the Netherlands, was attacked, 
and within an hours time all its treasures of art 
were destroyed. Other churches were ruined. How 
far this ravage might have spread it is not easy to 
say, for at Andun the rioters were met by the 
Seigneur de la Tour with a small band of armed 
peasants, and utterly routed. Five or six hundred 
of them were killed, others were drowned in the 
river and swamps, and the rest dispersed. 

Such was the character of the mad outbreak which 
in a few August days spread terror throughout the 
cities and ruin in the churches of the country. The 
incident just narrated shows how easily it might 
have been prevented had there been a few iliore De 
la Tours among the authorities. 

This wild foray indicated the general sympathy of 
the people with the doctrines of the Reformation, 
In the beginning of the summer this had led forth 
Calvinists and Lutherans, twenty thousand strong, 
to worship God in the open fields. Now it held the 
authorities in awe while a few of the populace com- 
mitted their acts of ruthless destruction. In the 
words of the Prince of Orange, " a mere handful of 
rabble " did the deed. Sir Richard Clough saw ten 
or twelve rioters sack church after church while 
thousands of spectators looked on, no one lifting a 
hand to stop the work. There was no robbery, no 
bloodshed, the fury of the rioters was directed solely 
against the ecclesiastical symbols, and the scattered 
6 



82 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

relics were left for the priests to gather up again 
when the madness ended. 

The outbreak filled the Duchess Eegent with utter 
consternation, and she was with difficulty persuaded 
from taking to flight. Egmont denounced the out- 
rages and busied himself with punishing the crimi- 
nals. Many lukewarm friends of the reform with- 
drew from it in consequence of the outrage. As for 
the King, news of the iconoclastic outbreak threw 
him into a paroxysm of frenzy. 

" It shall cost them dear ! '^ he cried in fury ; " it 
shall cost them dear ! I swear it by the soul of my 
father!" 

Cost them dear it did, this and other results of 
the reform crusade, as later events showed. 



CHAPTEE IX 

WILLIAM THE SILENT, PRINCE OF ORANGE 

In the period with which we are now dealing 
there is one name that comes ever into prominence, 
that of William, Prince of Orange, who was a lead- 
ing spirit in all events of note and who was yet to 
play the greatest part in his country's history. We 
have seen him in his youthful days, offering his 
shoulder for the support of the Emperor, at the time 
of the famous abdication. We shall see him again in 
later years engaged in vanning the freedom of his 
country from foreign dominion. A brief raview of 
the earlier life of this great prince is here in place. 

William the Silent is the title which he bears 
in history, but, as will be seen, this is a misnomer, 
arising solely from his discretion on one famous 
occasion. 

The family of the N'assaus, from which he de- 
scended, had long been prominent in the Nether- 
lands and had of old held sovereign power. One 
of its members, Adolph of IN'assau, had occupied the 
imperial throne. Born in 1533, son of William, 
Count of Nassau, our hero inherited from his cousin 
Eene, who died in 1544, princely estates in Bra- 
bant, Flanders, and Holland, and the small princi- 
pality of Orange, in southeast France, from which 
his title came. 

Educated in the Protestant faith by his parents, 
at about the age of fifteen he became a page of the 
Emperor Charles V., who, discerning his native 
powers, admitted him into his most secret councils. 

83 



84 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

In 1554, when twenty-one years of age, Charles ap- 
pointed him general-in-chief of the army, in the 
absence of the Duke of Savoy, giving him a post 
that was coveted by many able soldiers. The young 
commander proved himself worthy of the honor, and 
in the following y^ar, on the abdication of the 
Emperor, it was he whom the enfeebled monarch 
selected as his support in the abdication ceremony. 

Eegarded as the greatest Flemish subject of 
Spain, the young Prince of Orange played a promi- 
nent part in the events that succeeded, took part in 
the war in Picardy, and was chosen as the secret 
negotiator of a peace with France. He conducted 
this diplomatic mission with such skill and sagacity 
that the treaty which followed was highly favor- 
able to Spain and a monument to his diplomatic 
powers. Philip gave hostages for the due execution 
of this treaty, William being one of these. As such 
the young diplomat made a vital discovery which 
was to have a great influence over his later career. 

While hunting with King Henry of France in the 
forest of Vincennes, the Prince and King became 
separated from the rest of the company and rode on 
alone. During this ride Henry, supposing his com- 
panion to be a Catholic, indiscreetly took him into his 
confidence in a matter of the highest moment. 

He told the Prince that the public treaty recently 
signed was preliminary to a secret convention be- 
tween himself and Philip of Spain, in which they 
were to bind themselves to massacre all the converts 
to the Protestant faith in France and the Nether- 
lands. Knowing how deeply the Prince had been in 
councils of Charles V., and supposing him to hold a 



WILLIAM THE SILENT 85 

like relation to Philip, Henry told him the whole 
story of this terrible project. 

The Prince, while listening with horror and in- 
dignation to this frightful revelation, wisely kept 
his peace, and gave no indication by word or look 
that he was not in full sympathy with the horrible 
plot to murder all those whom the King designated 
as "that accursed vermin." 

It was from his reticence on this occasion that 
William earned the surname of "the Silent." In 
truth, he was ordinarily talkative enough, but he 
could be discreet upon occasion, and this was an 
occasion for the utmost discretion. 

From that hour the life work of the young noble 
was fixed. Visiting the Netherlands shortly after- 
wards, he made earnest efforts to excite strong 
opposition to the presence there of Spanish^ troops. 
While he had no religious sympathy for the re- 
formers, or for the theological opinion of the people 
in general, he could not, he said, "but feel com- 
passion for so many virtuous men and women thus 
devoted to death," and set himself to hinder, by all 
the means in his power, the kingly plot of massacre. 

Philip soon after left the Netherlands for Spain, 
never to return. But before going he gave William, 
as stadtholder of Holland, Friesland, and Utrecht, 
strict orders to see that the judges should carry out 
the edicts of persecution against the reformers, 
" without infraction, alteration, or moderation, and 
with absolute rigor." He expressly gave him the 
names of certain " excellent persons suspected of the 
new religion," and ordered him to have them put 
to death. What William did, however, was to warn 



86 HOLLAND AND BELGItJM 

them to escape, "thinking it more necessary to 
obey God than man.'^ 

The Prince of Orange was still youthful and is 
not to be considered in the sense in which he was re- 
garded in later years, when he was looked upon as 
the " father of his country.'^ In outward observ- 
ance he had become a Catholic, but he gave little 
heed to creed or doctrine. Theology did not trouble 
his mind, and if the Protestant instruction he had 
received from his parents remained with him, he 
gave no evidence of it. It was not religious fervor 
that moved him in his actions, but detestation of 
murder and determination to do what he could to 
save the harmless reformers from horrible deaths. 

In fact, he occupied himself largely in these days 
in enjoyments suited to his age and position, such 
as banquets, tournaments and the chase, the duties 
of a free hospitality, and the routine of official 
functions, civil and military. His establishment 
was conducted on almost a regal scale, there being 
twenty-four nobles and eighteen pages of high birth 
officially in his household, while his profuse table 
was served by a multitude of cooks and kitchen aids. 

Personally he was ever gentle and kindly. 
" Never,'' we are told by a Catholic historian, " did 
an arrogant or indiscreet word fall from his lips. 
He on no occasion manifested anger to his ser- 
vants, however much they might be in fault, but 
contented himself with admonishing them gra- 
ciously, without menace or insult. He had a gentle 
and agreeable tongue, with which he could turn all 
the gentlemen at court any way he liked. He was 
beloved and honored by the whole community." 



WILLIAM THE SILENT 87 

This free-handed and amiable personage was not 
likely to be graciously regarded by a man of the 
morose disposition of Philip II. In fact, a mutual 
enmity existed between the two, dissembled, but 
ever present. 

In 1566, when the attempt of Philip to establish 
the Inquisition in its full enormity in the N"ether- 
lands provoked the insurrection, some phases of 
which we have seen, William refused to take a new 
oath of absolute obedience, and in 1567 he offered 
to resign all his offices. 

Meanwhile the beggars' league was growing 
rapidly in members and as rapidly in audacity. 
Their banquets were as wild as the one we have 
described, and their language as hot as the wine they 
quaffed. With all this the Prince was out of accord. 
He well knew that Spaniards in the Kirig's pay 
were present at most of these revels and that 
Philip was kept informed of their foolish demon- 
strations. He knew also that Philip was resolute 
in his purpose of massacring the heretics, and 
was merely biding his time till matters were ripe to 
carry out his edicts. 

In fact, William of Orange knew far more than 
Philip of Spain dreamed of, and was more than his 
match in strateg}^ He was well aware that an 
army would soon be sent to put down the rebellious 
nobles and people. But two can practise the art 
of espionage as well as one, and the Prince was more 
clever than the King in this work. He organ- 
ized a system of secret agents who kept him con- 
stantly informed of Philip's secret purposes. These 
penetrated to the inmost recesses of the royal palace 



88 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

and discovered its most secret plots and plans. The 
King at night might carefully lock up important 
letters in his desk, but before morning these would 
be copied and the copies on their way to the Nether- 
lands. If the monarch left memoranda in his 
pocket before retiring to bed, even these would be 
copied while he slept and their contents sent to 
William the Silent. This secret post kept the 
Prince well informed of Philip's hidden intentions 
and enabled him to circumvent many of the deep- 
laid plans of the cunning despot. 

The events that succeeded may be briefly sum- 
marized. The city of Valenciennes, a hot-bed of 
heresy and sedition, was besieged and taken by the 
troops under Egmont and its people were treated 
with the frightful cruelty so common in captured 
cities in that era of barbarity. 

Antwerp was another headquarters of Protestant- 
ism and, but for the valor and influence of Orange, 
might have met with a similar fate. The trouble 
there began when a force of some three thousand 
raw levies, with a commander as raw as his fol- 
lowers, marched upon the city. These were met by 
a body of eight hundred trained soldiers, and so 
utterly beaten that scarcely a man escaped. 

This combat took place within sight of Antwerp, 
whose people could behold the bloody struggle from 
roofs and steeples. A furious tumult followed. 
There were forty thousand of the reformed sects 
in that city, Calvinists and Lutherans, and the 
excitement among the former became uncontrol- 
lable. Armed with weapons of every archaic sort, 
a body of ten thousand, inspired by bitter enmity, 



WILLIAM THE SILENT 89 

and bent on the rescue of their friends outside the 
town, marched in fury through the streets. 

It was at this point that the Prince of Orange 
showed his wisdom and decision. Knowing that 
this act exposed the great population of Antwerp, 
and all its wealth, which had been left under his 
charge, to massacre and destruction, he hastened to 
face the mad movement. 

Leaping upon his horse, he rode with all speed to 
the Red Gate, where, almost alone, he confronted the 
furious and formidable armed mob. His life was 
in imminent danger. Derisive epithets were 
showered upon him. He was called the " Pope's 
servant,'^ the " Minister of Antichrist," and similar 
titles, and a musket was levelled point-blank at his 
breast. Only that it was struck up by another hand, 
his career would have ended there and then.. 

Yet despite all these demonstrations of enmity 
he continued earnestly and imperatively to harangue 
the multitude. They had already broken open the 
Red Gate, but he told them they were too late, that 
their friends had been cut to pieces and the enemy 
was retiring, and that a disorderly and half-armed 
mob would be of no avail against the triumphant 
troops. 

His arguments at length prevailed and most of 
the crowd withdrew, only about five hundred in- 
sisting on going forward. This outbreak was dis- 
astrous to the men they came to rescue, three hun- 
dred of whom had been taken prisoners. De 
Beauvoir, commander of the victorious troops, fear- 
ing that he could not hold so many captives with 
his small force, had them all shot down in cold 



90 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

blood; and then advanced upon the over-eager five 
hundred. These, their valor suddenly evaporating, 
hastily retreated within the gates. De Beauvoir 
marched his men to the city moat and sounded his 
trumpets in defiance. No one came through the gates 
to face him and, thinking that the desire for fight 
had fled from the citizens, he led his men away. 

But all was far from being at rest within the city. 
The retiring Calvinists had retired to the Mere, 
a large thoroughfare or open space within the city, 
bordered by stately buildings. Here there gathered 
a body of from twelve to fifteen thousand Calvinists, 
armed and full of martial rage and passion. They 
barricaded the place and planted upon the barricades 
many field pieces which they had taken from the 
arsenal. They had also broken open the city Jail 
and freed the prisoners, who joined their ranks. 

Mischief was afoot and an intense alarm pre- 
vailed throughout the city. But the Prince faced 
this new danger as resolutely as the other. Eight 
companies of guards, enrolled for the defence of the 
public buildings, were mustered in the square front- 
ing the city hall, and all the magistracy, guild- 
masters and other leaders of the municipality were 
assembled for consultation in the council chamber. 
The Prince again faced the incensed mob, despite 
their threats and their weapons, and insisted upon 
their appointing eight deputies to consult with him 
and the magistrates. With all haste he drew up six 
articles of settlement, which were offered to and 
accepted by the deputies and the officials. These 
provided that the Prince and Hoogstraaten, the 
two governors of the city, should have charge of 



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WILLIAM THE SILENT 91 

the city keys, the watchshould be held by soldiers and 
burghers, no garrison should be admitted to the city, 
and citizens should have care of the charters. 

When these articles were submitted to the Cal- 
vinists at the Mere they positively rejected them, 
and demanded that the keys of the city should be in 
their keeping, and also that burghers alone, without 
distinction of religion, should be placed on guard. 

Night fell with no agreement, all the parties en- 
gaged took part in the night guard, Calvinists being 
posted on the ramparts and at the gates. The fol- 
lowing day passed quietly but ominously, the Prince 
and city officials occupying themselves in framing 
a new set of articles, with provisions adding to the 
prominence of the Reformed sections in city affairs. 

The Calvinists, however, continued in a frame of 
mind that no compact could quiet, and gnother 
night of deep anxiety passed. The Antwerp Prot- 
estants embraced many Lutherans as well as Cal- 
vinists, and the enmity between these Protestant 
sects was as fierce as that between Reformers and 
Romanists. The Calvinists, however, invited the 
Lutherans to join them, threatening them, if they 
should refuse, with the same fate as they designed 
for the Catholics. 

During that night the Prince of Orange, whose 
training had been in the Lutheran faith, inter- 
viewed the ministers and leading members of that 
sect and induced them to join with the Catholics 
and with all friends of order against the crew of 
outlaws who were threatening to sack and burn 
the city. In consequence some three or four thou- 
sand armed Lutherans collected during the night. 



92 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

camping on the river side near St. Michael's cloister. 
The aid of the various mercantile associations was 
also enlisted in aid of the city authorities. 

On the morning of March 15, 1567, the city of 
Antwerp presented an alarming spectacle. Within 
its walls were three distinct armies, the Calvinists, 
the Lutherans, and the Catholics, numbering in all 
about forty thousand men, all armed, all inspired 
by sectarian enmity, and all breathing fire and 
slaughter. " Never were men so desperate and so 
willing to fight,'' we are told. The Prince of 
Orange knew well the horrible consequences which 
would follow an appeal to arms, and he knew as 
well that all hope of arresting a frightful conflict 
rested upon himself. 

The Articles prepared the day before had been 
accepted by the Lutheran and Catholic leaders. At 
ten o'clock Prince William, attended by Hoog- 
straaten, his colleague in the governorship, and a 
committee of city officials, and followed by a hun- 
dred troopers, rode to the Mere. The Calvinists 
faced them, fierce and threatening. The Prince, 
however, was allowed by them to ride into the 
square. Here he had the Articles read, made some 
remarks upon them, and pointed out that they con- 
tained every concession to the Reformers that could 
reasonably be asked. He also told them that a com- 
bat would be hopeless to them, since their opponents 
outnumbered them two to one. He earnestly ad- 
vised them to accept the peace he offered and testify 
to it by repeating the words with which he should 
conclude. Then, in a ringing voice, he exclaimed, 
'• God save the King ! " 



WILLIAM THE SILENT 93 

For a moment the Calvinists hesitated, then, won 
to reason by his words, they roared out in one 
tremendous shout, " Vive le Boi/' 

The deed was done, the articles of peace were 
accepted, battle and outrage averted, Antwerp saved. 
Earely has a city passed through so critical interval 
as Antwerp experienced during those three days. 

The Prince of Orange was never to use those 
words again. The long-growing enmity between 
him and Philip II. was soon to bear fruit. Philip 
had devised a new oath to the effect that those in 
authority should obey every order he might receive, 
against every person and in every place, without 
restriction or limitation. This was accepted by 
Egmont and others, but Orange utterly refused to 
subscribe to it, and no persuasion could induce him 
to accept such an unlimited obligation. 4 

He knew very well what this refusal would mean, 
that his doom was sealed if he remained within 
reach of the gloomy tyrant at Madrid. He knew 
also that Egmont and Horn, despite their services to 
the King, were similarly doomed. They were too 
prominent and influential to be left free to act. 
But he could not convince them of their danger. 
Wiser than they. Orange wrote to Philip, resigning 
all his offices, and then left the country, seeking 
safety in Germany, from which he was not to return 
except at the head of an army. 

As for Egmont and Horn, they allowed them- 
selves to be cajoled with soft words until the despot 
was ready to act. The result was as the Prince had 
predicted. Their arrest came soon after, and they 
eventually paid for their credulity with their lives. 



CHAPTER X 

THE DUKE OF ALVA AND THE COUNCIL OF BLOOD 

The departure of William of Orange came at a 
time of great depression for the cause of reform. 
The confederacy organized by Brederode had fallen 
to pieces. Of its chieftains, some were in exile, some 
in prison, some had gone back to the government 
side. Brederode, their organizer and leader, who 
paid more heed to the wine-cup than to patriotic 
duty, sought safety in Germany, and soon after died 
there of chagrin and hard drinking. 

As for the popular cause in the Netherlands, it 
had practically ceased to exist. Apprehension ever}^- 
where prevailed. The soldiers of the confederacy 
were put to flight, pursued, cut to pieces, hanged, 
drowned or burned. Of the artisan class, the most 
industrious portion left the land in droves. The 
Reformers were driven from the cities to their old 
secret hiding places, their meeting houses burned, 
their ministers and leaders hanged, their disciples 
treated with shameful inhumanity, their property 
confiscated, multitudes of them sent to the scaffold. 
Under a newly issued proclamation every person 
who in any way showed affiliation with the Re- 
formers was sentenced to the gallows. This was 
the work of the Duchess Regent, but, severe as it 
was, it appeared so mild to the King as to excite his 
wrath. He was furious that heretics should be 
suffered to hang when they ought to be burned. It 
94 



DUKE OF ALVA 95 

is not surprising, under these conditions, that great 
numbers of the people suddenly became ardent 
Catholics, and other numbers, who were not ready- 
to abandon their faith, deserted their native land. 

How numerous were the heretics is evident from 
the great number shown to dwell in Antwerp dur- 
ing the outbreak in that city. So abundant were 
they, in fact, that, on the 16th of February, 1568, 
the Inquisition issued the most extraordinary and 
inhuman edict ever recorded in the history of man- 
kind. The Roman emperor who wished that all his 
foes had but one neck that he might strike off their 
heads at a single blow, contented himself with a 
wish, but Philip II. and the Inquisition sought to 
put this fell purpose into effect. A sentence of the 
Holy Office condemned all the inhabitants of the 
Netherlands to death as heretics, only a few per- 
sons, specially named, being excepted. This de- 
cision of the Inquisition was confirmed ten days 
afterward by the King, who ordered it to be carried 
into instant execution, without regard to sex, age, 
or condition. Nothing resembling this frightful 
decree can be found elsewhere in the pages of his- 
tory. That it might be put into execution a Spanish 
army was send to the Netherlands, led by a man in 
whose soul no instinct of pity had ever been felt. 
The story of this invasion comes here in place. 

Ferdinando Alvarez de Toledo, Duke of Alva, the 
leader of this army, a man then sixty years of age, 
was at that time the most successful general of 
Spain, if not of all Europe. He had fought in all 
the campaigns of Charles V., never losing a battle, 
had signally defeated the infidel Turks, and was 



96 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

now sent to deal with the heretics of the Nether- 
lands. 

The army led by this doughty leader consisted 
of about ten thousand picked and veteran soldiers, 
capable of dealing with ten times their number of 
Netherland recruits. They comprised nearly nine 
thousand of the best foot-soldiers of Europe, and 
about twelve hundred cavalry of equal skill and 
training. 

For twelve days this small army made its way 
through Burgundy, twelve through Lorraine, trail- 
ing along through mountain passes and intricate 
forest. During this difficult journey they were 
closely watched, by a Swiss force on one side, a 
French force on the other. But no opposition was 
offered to their march. Those in the Netherlands 
who had reasons to fear them were equally supine, 
and they finally reached the soil of that country 
without a hand being raised to hinder their march. 
Egmont, who might have struck a blow for his 
country had he been the traitor to the King he was 
accused of being, rode out to welcome Alva to his 
native soil, while Orange was at that date a helpless 
fugitive in Germany. 

The whole of the Netherlands lay supinely at the 
feet of the new Captain-General, who proceeded to 
take possession of all its strongholds, distributing 
his soldiers through the principal cities, the keys 
of which he demanded and the fortifications of 
which he proceeded to strengthen. 

The Duchess Eegent was furious at this invasion, 
which robbed her of all her authority over the land 
which she had been chosen to rule. As for the 



DUKE OF ALVA 97 

people themselves, universal consternation prevailed. 
Those who could flee from the fatal land hastened to 
cross the borders. All foreign merchants left the 
great marts of commerce. The cities, centers of 
busy industry, became silent as cemeteries. Hope- 
less dismay filled all hearts. The sword had de- 
scended upon them and none could foresee what 
fate awaited their land. Few or none recognized 
that a step had been taken that would in time rouse 
the country in opposition, drive the invaders from 
the soil, and put an end to Spanish dominion in the 
Netherlands. 

To put the inhabitants of this country under the 
practically absolute rule of a relentless and avari- 
cious bigot like the Duke of Alva was one of the 
worst acts in the life of the Spanish tyrant. Alva 
began his career of ruthless persecution wijh the 
arrest of Counts Egmont and Horn, whom he de- 
ceived with a show of friendly interest until ready 
to seize these trusting dupes. This act was in 
accordance with the orders of Philip, whose method 
was to cut off the heads of the heaviest stalks of 
wheat, and who doubtless was enraged at the escape 
of William of Orange to a realm beyond his juris- 
diction. 

Alva, in fact, lost no time in carrying out all the 
orders of the despotic king. In announcing, Sep- 
tember 9, 1567, to Philip the capture of Egmont 
and Horn, he told him that he intended to establish 
a new court for the trial of crimes committed 
during the period of trouble. This tribunal was 
immediately created, under the title of the Council 
of Troubles. The people, however, soon gave it 
7 



98 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

a more fitting and terrible title, when they named 
it the Council of Blood, the name by which it 
became known to history. 

This frightful tribunal replaced all other courts 
or councils. It defined and punished the crime of 
treason, but announced as treason any evidence of 
free thought, any claim to liberty, or any assertion 
that its decisions were subject to the laws or charters 
of the land. All these were denounced as high 
treason, and for this wide-embracing crime there was 
but one punishment, that of instant death. 

As regards the operation of the Council of Blood, 
we are told that in less than three months after ita 
institution it had condemned eighteen hundred per- 
sons to execution, among them some of the noblest, 
highest and most virtuous in the land. And yet 
this monstrous tribunal had no charter or formal 
warrant for existence. It was no more than a judi- 
cial club, its members appointed by the Duke of Alva, 
its self-appointed president. Of its members only 
two were given the right of voting, and their votes 
were subject to his will. 

There was more than murder, or massacre under 
a fiction of law, involved in this. Plunder was 
included. Alva, according to his own vaunt, had 
promised that a golden river, a yard in depth, should 
be sent to irrigate the thirsty soil of Spain, and 
among the chief crimes of those condemned was 
the possession of wealth. Confiscation followed death, 
and the flow of the golden river quickly began. 

As for describing the harvest of death that fol- 
lowed, it is beyond our scope and too monstrous to 
be detailed. We read of eighty-four citizens of 




THE DUKE OF ALVA IX BRUSSELS 



DUKE OF ALVA 99 

Valenciennes being sentenced in one day, forty-six at 
another place, and similar examples elsewhere. On 
the eve of Shrovetide five hundred were arrested at 
once, and all quickly executed. That no crime 
could be charged against them did not matter. 
Innocence was no valid plea. 

'' No matter for that,^^ said Vargas, the most 
cruel of the councillors ; " if the man has died inno- 
cent, it will be the better for him when he takes his 
trial in the next world." 

Peter de Witt of Amsterdam wa« executed be- 
cause during a tumult in that city he had persuaded 
a rioter not to fire upon a magistrate. This was 
held to be proof that he was a man in authority 
among the rebels and therefore subject to death for 
high treason. 

Thus was the Netherlands crushed. Inaocence, 
like all false charges of crime, was of no avail. A 
man arrested on any plea, or even absence of plea, 
could hope for no escape — especially if he was 
possessed of money or estate. Everywhere human 
beings were hung, burned, beheaded. Everywhere 
evidences of the work of the Council of Blood might 
be seen. In the streets, on the door-posts of houses, 
even on the trees of orchards in the fields, this har- 
vest of death was constantly evident. Grass began 
to grow in the streets of depopulated towns. In the 
marts of trade and industry the hammer had ceased 
to sound, the ship to take on freight. 

Such were the opening stages in the career in 
the Netherlands of the infamous Duke of Alva. 
There is much more to be said of this career, for it 
continued for five years, during which, as he after- 



100 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

wards boasted, lie executed eighteen thousand men, 
while during his term of office one hundred thou- 
sand deserted their native country, carrying their 
arts and industries to England. His executioners 
shed more blood than his soldiers, none of the 
provinces holding their own against his veterans ex- 
cept Holland and Zealand. As for the Blood Coun- 
cil, it executed all whose opinions were open to 
question and whose wealth was open to confiscation ; 
the present and absent, the living and dead, being 
subjected alike to trial and their property to plun- 
der if the vestige of a charge could be adduced 
against them. 

All this did not go on without opposition. There 
were generals in the field — William and his brother 
Louis of Orange. There were fighters afloat — the 
Beggars of the Sea. The story of their exploits is 
still to come. But it may here be said that the war 
kindled by Alva burned for nearly seventy years, 
costing Spain untold treasure, her finest troops, and 
the loss of seven of the richest provinces of the 
Netherlands. 



CHAPTEE XI 

THE PRI>TCE OF OEAITGE TO THE RESCUE 

The Netherlands were not fully abandoned to the 
ruthless and avaricious Duke of Alva. The Prince 
of Orange, proscribed, outlawed, forced to flee for 
his life, his Netherland property seized, beheld with 
bitter indignation the merciless harrying of his 
country, and issued a declaration in which he ap- 
pealed to the world for the justice of his cause, and 
denounced the King, who, he said, had broken all 
his royal oaths and obligations. 

The Prince did not stop with this. His country 
lay bleeding at the feet of the infamous Governor- 
General and there was none but him to come to its 
rescue. This he hastened to do, making strenuous 
efforts to raise funds and troops to invade the 
provinces. He was in league with the Protestant 
princes of Germany and the exiled nobles of the 
ISTetherlands, who were anxious to aid him. Eecruits 
were daily enlisted and put under the command of 
his brother Louis, one of the most skilful and daring 
soldiers of the age. Money was contributed freely 
by the nobles and himself, he selling all his jewels, 
plate, tapestry and other valuables for the cause, 
being ready to beggar himself for the freedom of 
his country. 

His plan was to invade the provinces from three 
different points, while he held an army in reserve 
at Cleves. Of these ventures two proved unsuc- 

101 



102 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

cessful, the invading forces being easily defeated 
by the Spanish veterans. The third, under the lead 
of Louis of Nassau, crossed the frontier of Friesland 
on the 2d of April, 1568, and made active efforts to 
gather recruits in that province, among those gained 
being a small troop of horse led by his younger 
brother Adolphus. " Freedom for fatherland and 
conscience," the inscription on his standard, brought 
men in numbers to his banners. 

Meanwhile Alva was not idle. Count Aremberg, 
just returned from the war with the Huguenots of 
France, was ordered in all haste to the threatened 
province, with a force of nearly twenty-five hundred 
men, while Count Meghem, with about fifteen hun- 
dred, was hurried forward to cooperate with him. 
It seemed to the astute Alva that the horde of raw 
recruits under Louis could not stand for a moment 
before four thousand of the able and well-armed 
Spanish veterans. 

It was the 18th of May before the army of Arem- 
berg reached Vollenhove, to which he had hastened 
with an advance force and where he had been laid 
up for a week with the gout. Despite this affliction 
he immediately ordered a march upon the enemy, 
he being carried on a litter with the advancing 
troops. On his way through Groningen he received 
six pieces of artillery, which had oddly been 
christened with the notes of the musical gamut: 
ut, re, me, fa, sol, la. These later acquired his- 
torical celebrity, though on the present occasion the 
Spaniards were not to dance to their music. 

Louis of Nassau was then at the city of Dam, 
which the enemy reached on May 22, a skirmish 



PRINCE OF ORANGE TO RESCUE 103 

following with a body of arquebusiers sent out by 
Louis, who were repulsed with a loss of twenty or 
thirty men. Meghem was still fifty miles distant, 
but wrote to Aremberg that he would join him on 
the 23d. 

While this was going on Louis withdrew from 
Dam, marching at midnight and falling back along 
the Woldweg ("forest road"), a narrow passage 
through a wide swamp. Heiligar Lee ("Holy 
Lion"), where he drew up his line, was a wooded 
eminence, the only high ground in a vast spread of 
swampy lowlands. The ground was used as pas- 
tures, but was crossed in all directions by impassable 
ditches, which made the country almost impreg- 
nable. 

Aremberg did not wait for Meghem, but led his 
soldiers along the causeway, in hot pursuit ^f what 
he deemed a mere rabble, who had fled at sight of 
his men and would not stand for a moment against 
them. He did not give proper credit to the skill of 
his opponent. Louis awaited him near the abbey 
of the Holy Lion, behind him a wood, before him 
the causeway traversed by the Spaniards. Here the 
" beggars " were drawn up in two squadrons, 
flanked by musketeers, while on the brow of the 
hill was a large body of light armed troops. The 
cavalry, three hundred strong, were posted in front, 
on the wooded side of the road traversed by the 
Spaniards. 

Aremberg was well aware of the character of the 
country, knowing that it was filled with pitfalls, 
deep pools from which peat had been dug and 
which were covered by a turf -like green scum. He 



104 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM. 

proposed to wait here for the reinforcements which 
Meghem was bringing up. But his soldiers and 
captains were eager to advance, sure that the enemy, 
whom they had seen hastily leaving the city of Dam 
the previous day, would fall to pieces at a touch. 

Such was their eagerness that Aremherg, much 
against his will and judgment, at length gave way. 
The light troops on the brow of the hill were fired 
upon by the musical cannon brought from Groningen 
and after a few shots were seen to scamper hastily 
from their position. Ignorant that this was a pre- 
arranged stratagem, the eager Spaniards followed, 
charging upon the stationary squares. 

In a moment the whole vanguard plunged into the 
morass, where they hopelessly struggled in the deep 
pools, while the musketeers of the enemy poured 
a deadly fire upon them. Those who succeeded in 
reaching solid ground were charged by the pikemen 
of the squadrons and driven back into the strangling 
mud. At the same time the smaller of the two 
squadrons, as yet concealed by the hill flank, made 
a detour around its base and enveloped the rear- 
guard of the Spaniards, before they could come to 
the aid of their comrades, and broke their ranks to 
pieces. 

The rout was sudden and complete. Aremherg 
saw that the day was lost and that only a heroic 
death could retrieve his honor. Putting himself at 
the head of his small body of cavalry, he charged 
hotly forward. Adolphus of Nassau, at the head of 
an equal number of horse, met the onset. The 
leaders singled out each other, each firing pistol 
shots and Aremherg striking fiercely with his sabre. 



PRINCE OF ORANGE TO RESCUE 105 

Adolphus, with a bullet through his body and a 
sabre-cut in his head, fell dead, and two soldiers 
near him were slain by the same potent blade. 

But soon after a musket ball wounded the horse 
of Aremberg, which fell with its rider, also wounded. 
A few followers raised the horse and bleeding rider 
and sought to lead him from the field. But his hour 
had come. After staggering a few paces, the horse 
fell dead. The rider managed to walk to the edge 
of a meadow near the road. Here, wounded, crip- 
pled with gout, and burdened with the weight of his 
armor, he calmly awaited death. It came soon. 
An advancing troop rode upon him and cut him 
down, as, like a Homeric champion, he fought single- 
handed against a battalion of the foe. 

Hardly had this struggle ended when a trumpet 
sound was heard. It came from Meghem's advance, 
which was now near at hand. Seeing that all was 
hopelessly lost he took the best course remaining, 
returning upon his track and making his way back 
to the city of Groningen, the key of Friesland, which 
he thus secured. 

The tidings of this disaster to his trusty troops 
was received by the Duke of Alva with dismay and 
with a wrath greater than his dismay. He deter- 
mined to take the field in person and annihilate this 
doughty antagonist. But first he exhausted his 
fury upon the unfortunates within his power. He 
issued an edict banishing the Prince of Orange 
and the other emigrant nobles and confiscating all 
their estates. He razed to the ground the Culem- 
berg Palace, in which the Beggar fraternity had 
been formed. On June 1 eighteen prisoners of dis- 



106 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

tinction were executed on the Brussels horse-market, 
their heads being fixed upon stakes, to which their 
bodies were fastened. Others suffered on the fol- 
lowing day, and on the 3d his prisoners of highest 
distinction, Counts Egmont and Horn, were brought 
to Brussels under a strong guard. Their trials, 
which had taken place at Ghent, were of the kind 
used for captives already doomed and against whom 
the slightest misdoing is tortured into evidence of 
guilt. 

The documents in the case were examined before 
the Blood Council, and the bloodthirsty Duke de- 
clared that they were full of evidence of guilt and 
that these illustrious personages were guilty of high 
treason. They were therefore sentenced to imme- 
diate execution, and this sentence was carried out 
despite all the influence that could be brought to 
bear upon the unrelenting Governor-General. In 
this, however, he was simply carrying out the orders 
of the Spanish King. 

The deed of blood took place on the 5th of June, 
in the great square of Brussels, the condemned 
nobles being beheaded and their heads exposed upon 
iron stakes. Thus they remained for two days, be- 
fore the bodies were delivered to their friends for 
burial. Thus died Philip Montmorency, Count of 
Horn, and Lamoral of Egmont, Prince of Gavre, 
the most illustrious victims that fell before the cruel 
will of Philip II. of Spain and his ruthless agent. 
Noble statues have been erected on the scene of 
their legalized murder. 

Having thus taken vengeance upon the doomed 
victims of the despot of Spain, Alva took the field 



PRINCE OF ORANGE TO RESCUE 107 

in person against Louis of Nassau at the head of an 
army of 15,000 trained troops and a large number 
of less-disciplined soldiers. 

Louis, on the contrary, while he had under him 
10,000 to 12,000 men, was badly handicapped by 
lack of funds, his only revenue being such sums as 
he could obtain by levying upon the people. As a 
result his unpaid men were in a state of mutiny, 
and could with difficulty be brought to face the foe. 

The result of the engagement that followed, in the 
vicinity of Groningen, was disastrous to the patriots, 
who were put to flight, with large loss, and forced 
to seek refuge in the swampy ground surrounding. 

Battle was renewed on the 21st of July, a few days 
later, Louis being now helplessly fettered by his 
mutinous troops, who swore to disband if they 
were not immediately paid — and tliis on the very 
verge of battle. They were, however, in a place in 
which retreat was impossible, in an enclosed place 
between the Spanish army and the river Ems. Louis 
told them that they must conquer or die. Only in 
their own swords lay any chance of escape from 
destruction. 

The battle that followed, with troops like those 
pitted against an army of the best troops in Europe 
and led by one of the ablest commanders, could 
have but one termination. The coward troops 
quickly broke and fled, throwing down their arms 
and being slaughtered like sheep, hundreds who 
escaped the swords of the Spaniards being driven 
to drown in the river. It is said that in this 
massacre seven Spaniards were killed and seven 
thousand rebels. The work of death lasted two 



108 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

days, very few escaping. Count Louis finally made 
his escape by swimming across the Ems, and with 
the small remnant of his troops took refuge in 
Germany. 

Thus ended the first effort to wrest the Nether- 
lands from the hand of Spain. On the return of 
the triumphant Spaniards they treated the province 
like a conquered country, killing and burning all 
before them, the outrages being so gross and terrible 
that even the Duke of Alva felt it necessary to hang 
some of the men who had been most prominent in 
this foul work. Thus did the iron duke vindicate the 
supremacy of Spain upon the soil of the Nether- 
lands. 

The failure of the Prince of Orange in this cam- 
paign did not discourage his resolute soul. His 
friends in Germany thought his case hopeless and 
advised him to sit still. The Emperor went further 
and forbade him to ^' move hand or foot in the cause 
of the perishing provinces.'' If he should do any- 
thing to violate the peace of the realm it would be 
at his own peril. 

All this had little effect on the mind of William 
of Orange. His people were being slaughtered in 
multitudes and he stood ready to devote all his life 
and strength to their cause. With enormous effort 
he collected at his own expense an army of nearly 
30,000 men, and on the 31st of August, 1568, he 
hurled defiance at the infamous Duke of Alva in an 
open declaration of war. With political astuteness 
he did not direct this against Philip of Spain, 
whom he affected to be ignorant of the acts of his 
bloodthirsty Captain-General. He was obliged to 



PRINCE OF ORANGE TO RESCUE 109 

wear this transparent mask to solace the suscepti- 
bilities of the German princes and emperor, though 
with no thought that it would deceive any one as 
to the real significance of his declaration. 

The first step in the new campaign was a brilliant 
one. On the night of October 4, under the light of 
a brilliant moon, he led his army across the Meuse, 
which by chance was then unusually low. The 
men marched in water that reached to their necks, 
while the cavalry, stationed in midstream, protected 
their crossing. 

This feat attracted wide attention. It had seemed 
impossible and was flatly contradicted, the Duke of 
Alva, on being told of it, saying scornfully : 

" Is the army of the Prince of Orange a flock of 
wild geese, that it can fly over rivers like the 
Meuse?'' 4 

A burgher of Amsterdam, who spoke of it as a 
matter of common report, was scourged at the whip- 
ping post for his credulity. Yet it was true. Orange 
and his men stood on the soil of Brabant, ready to 
fight again in his country's cause. 

Unfortunately, his first success in this campaign 
was destined to be his last. The Duke of Alva, 
knowing the difficulty with which the army of his 
opponent had been raised and his lack of means to 
keep such a force in the field, adopted the shrewd 
policy of refusing to fight. His own army was 
to be kept in the field, but constantly beyond the 
reach of the invaders. He proposed to wear out the 
Prince's army by marches and counter-marches, at 
the same time destroying all food in its line of 
movement. The cunning Spaniard knew that delay 



110 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

would fight for him more effectively than his own 
men could do. 

As a result of this shrewd plan the campaign 
lasted little more than a month. 'At every move- 
ment of the Prince the Duke kept close at hand, 
ready to strike if opportunity offered, but taking 
care not to be struck. The expected consequence 
followed. The Prince's troops, without pay or 
plunder, and with little food, grew mutinous. In 
one demonstration the Prince's sword was shot from 
his side. To keep the men together within sight of 
an enemy whom they could not reach was bitterly 
tantalizing and annoying and was sure to prove 
impossible. 

Only on one occasion did Alva show fight. The 
army of the Prince had crossed the Geta Eiver, 
leaving a rear guard to protect the crossing. On 
this force, three thousand strong, Alva threw a body 
of seven thousand troops, dealing with them so 
shrewdly that scarce a man remained. So success- 
ful was this movement that Vitelli, in command of 
the advance, sent a messenger to the Duke, begging 
him to march the main body across the stream and 
annihilate the rebels in a general battle. 

This message threw the Duke into a rage. He 
was furious to find that his leading officers failed 
to comprehend his well-devised plan of campaign. 

" Go back to Yitelli ! '' he furiously exclaimed. 
'^ Is he, or am I, to command in this campaign ? 
Tell him not to suffer a single man to cross the 
river. Warn him against sending any more envoys 
to advise a battle. Should you or any other man 
dare to bring me another such message, I swear to 



PRINCE OF ORANGE TO RESCUE 111 

you, by the head of the King, that you go not hence 
alive." 

This was the only engagement in that campaign 
of disaster. Of the 30,000 of the Prince's army, 
8,000 had been lost in the fight described and other 
petty encounters. All the funds he could raise had 
been wasted without result. He was practically 
penniless and utterly outgeneralled. Nothing re- 
mained but to retreat to Germany, and that was no 
easy enterprise. He led his army back to the Meuse, 
but it was now too high to be crossed. Then he 
turned south, and finally crossed the border of 
France. 

He had it in view to take part in the war be- 
tween the Catholics and Huguenots of France, but 
in this his men, enlisted in Germany for war in the 
Netherlands, refused to take part. Thus, in the 
end, nothing remained but to return to Germany 
and disband his army. He paid them as well as 
he could by pawning his camp equipage, his plate 
and furniture, promising faithfully to pay in the 
future all that remained. Thus ended the first 
effort of the gallant Prince of Orange to rescue his 
country. Years were to pass before he could return 
to the field. 



CHAPTER XII 

THE OCEAN OVERWHELMS THE LAITD 

The Netherlands, and especially Holland, are a 
domain rescued from the sea! In effect these Low 
Lands belong to the Atlantic, and man owns them 
only by conquest, not by original possession. Only 
by strenuous labor have they been won, and only by 
similar labor have they been kept. To the sand dunes 
flung up by the ocean man has added a series of 
strong battlements, sea-walls built and held by vast 
labor, with great water-gates to let the ocean waves 
in when necessity should demand. This necessity 
has arisen more than once, as will appear in future 
chapters. And more than once the ocean has forced 
its way in and reconquered in part its lost domain. 

One of the greatest of these eruptions of the sea 
took place near the end of the year 1570, adding to 
the terrors brought upon the land at the hand of 
the Duke of Alva a still greater terror due to the 
waters of the broad Atlantic. 

Floods in this low-lying corner of Europe have 
not been infrequent. One of the greatest was that 
of 1282, when the ocean waves broke through the 
sand barrier at the mouth of the Scheldt, the over- 
flowing waters forming the great gulf known as the 
Zuyder Zee, which has recently been in part recon- 
quered by the strenuous labors of the busy Hol- 
landers. There have been other disasters of similar 
kind, but none so destructive as that of 1570. 

On that occasion the waters of the Atlantic were 
112 



OCEAN OVERWHELMS LAND 113 

poured into the North Sea by a furious and long- 
continued northwest gale. The dykes, assailed by 
the heaping billows, gave way on all sides and the 
triumphant waters poured in floods over the land. 
While the cities of Flanders were inundated, the 
low and narrow peninsula of North Holland was in 
the greatest danger of being utterly swept away. 

The great Diemer dyke, between Amsterdam and 
Mayden, was broken in twelve places. The strong 
bulwark of the Hand-bos, a structure of stout, oaken 
piles, moored with great anchors, fastened with 
strong clamps, and strengthened by granite and 
gravel, snapped asunder before the thundering waves. 
Of all the various dykes only the Sleeper, one built 
for great emergencies, held firm and saved the penin- 
sula from utter ruin. 

Through the breaks poured the heaping billows. 
Eotterdam, Dort, and other cities were deeply inun- 
dated. Fishing vessels and even larger ships were 
driven inland and came to rest amid groves and 
orchards or were hurled upon dwellings in their path. 

Throughout this region the loss of life and prop- 
erty was enormous. But the destruction was still 
greater in Friesland, on the opposite side of the 
Zuyder Zee, where all the dykes gave way and the 
whole land was converted into a raging sea. Above 
the water only the church towers and high peaked 
roofs of inland cities rose, like scattered islands 
telling of man's former occupancy. Whole districts, 
with their villages and farm buildings, were en- 
gulfed, the floating dwellings borne along by the 
waves, while men, women and children, horses, cattle 
and sheep were drowned in helpless multitudes. 
8 



114 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

Everything that would float was seized and utilized 
by the fugitives. People gathered on the roofs and 
steeples of churches and in the tops of trees, praying 
for aid and mercy. In a few hours thousands of 
human beings were swept into the watery grave and 
it seemed as if the whole population would be sub- 
merged. 

When the storm at length subsided, boats began to 
ply in every direction, rescuing those on roofs and 
tree-tops and those afloat on supports in the water, 
and also collecting the bodies of the drowned. While 
many lives were saved by these exertions, it is esti- 
mated that not less than twenty thousand persons 
were drowned in the one province of Friesland, and 
in all the Netherlands fully one hundred thousand 
persons lost their lives. As for the value of the 
property destroyed and the animals drowned no 
estimate could be made, the loss being enormous. 

The storm continued throughout the 1st and 2d of 
November, and as the former was the day of All 
Saints, the Spaniards declared that the affliction 
was sent by Heaven upon the Netherlands as a pun- 
ishment of the heretics. As for the people them- 
selves, they were overwhelmed by the disaster. God 
and man alike seemed against them, dooming them 
to destruction. The fierce hand of bigotry had put 
multitudes of the innocent to death, and now, in a 
few hours, the cruel hand of nature had brought 
more havoc than human tyranny had been able to 
accomplish in years. It is not surprising that de- 
spair lay heavy upon the land thus assailed on all 
sides, and it took long to recover from the disaster. 



CHAPTER XIII 

AN ACT OF PATRIOTIC DARING 

Among the varied incidents that took place in the 
Netherlands during the domination of the Duke of 
Alva there was none more striking as an act of des- 
perate courage than the one we propose to narrate. 
While it was hopeless of any successful outcome, it 
illustrates well the desperation of the inhabitants 
and the ferocious daring that grows from the horrors 
of civil war. 

The narrow territory lying between the Meuse and 
the Waal Rivers forms an island known by the name 
of the Isle of Bommel. It is a region of military 
and naval importance. On it, in a slender hfook at 
the junction of the two streams, stood in past times 
the castle of Lowestein, occupying its western verge 
and commanding the two cities of Gorcum and 
Dorcum and the navigation of the intervening 
waters. A small garrison held the castle, which no 
one dreamed of as a place open to assault. 

One evening, near the end of December, 1570, four 
persons in the dress of monks, their cowls and robes 
being those of the mendicant order of Orey Friars, 
appeared at the castle gates and requested shelter 
for the night. They were at once admitted and 
taken to the commandant, who, as they entered, was 
standing by the fire, talking with his wife. 

The foremost of the visitors, on coming near, asked 
him if he held the castle for the Duke of Alva or the 
Prince of Orange. He replied that he recognized 

115 



116 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

no prince and no superior except Philip, King of 
Spain. On hearing these words the seeming monk 
drew a pistol from under his robe and shot the com- 
mandant through the head. The others, taking ad- 
vantage of the panic into which this act threw the 
feeble garrison, fiercely attacked the soldiers and 
quickly made themselves masters of the place. 

The leader of the assailants was really a drover, 
named Herman de Euyter, an ardent partisan of the 
Prince of Orange. During the next day the captors 
introduced into the castle some twenty-five men, 
who at once set to work to strengthen the defences of 
the place. The reinforcement intended was much 
stronger than this, but fioods and frost had made the 
roads impassable, and the remainder of the party 
failed to reach the place, leaving the weak vanguard 
to hold it alone. 

This daring deed soon became known, and the 
governor of the region of Bois le Due at once 
dispatched a body of two hundred men, under Cap- 
tain Perez, to recover the captured fortress. This 
would not have been an easy matter if the garrison 
had been of any strength. On its outward walls the 
castle was bathed by the waters of the two streams, 
and on its inward side it was defended by two re- 
doubts, with a double interior fosse. 

But a garrison of less than thirty men could not 
hold out long against two hundred well-armed sol- 
diers. On the first day the Spaniards cannonaded 
the walls until a breach was made. On the second 
they gallantly carried the inner works and made 
themselves masters of the place, most of the defenders 
being killed or captured in the onset. 



AN ACT OF PATRIOTIC DARING 117 

In a brief time De Eii3rter remained alone, stand- 
ing at bay on the threshold of an inner room. Here 
he fought with astonishing courage and skill, wield- 
ing his sword with the strength of a giant, while 
Spaniard after Spaniard fell to the floor before his 
trenchant blade. 

At length, pressed by assailants and weakened 
from loss of blood, he retreated slowly backward into 
the hall, followed hotly by the throng of enemies. A 
moment later a terrific explosion took place. The 
stalwart drover had applied a match to a train of 
powder he had previously laid and the hall in which 
they stood was blown to fragments, De Euyter and 
his assailants sharing a common death. 

Thus ended this remarkable deed of daring. Those 
of the defenders who were taken were executed and 
De Ruyter's remains nailed upon the gallows *at Bois 
le Due. But the gallant drover had taught his coun- 
trymen a useful lesson in gallantry and patriotism. 



CHAPTEE XIY 

THE BEGGARS OF THE SEA 

The story of the Netherlands embraces many 
other tales of war and devastation, battles by land 
and sea, siege and capture of cities, massacre of in- 
nocent populations, slaughter of so-called heretics, a 
carnival of blood and cruelty such as the world has 
rarely seen. Yet instead of putting down the spirit 
of rebellion and heresy by these means, Alva only 
augmented it; the insurrection, fomented and sus- 
tained by the Prince of Orange, steadily growing, 
while Protestantism made rapid progress. This was 
especially the case in the northern provinces, those of 
Holland and Friesland, where Catholicism practi- 
cally disappeared. 

Even in the Belgian provinces, where the Catholic 
faith was widely held, the spirit of insurrection grew. 
It became more and more evident to the people that 
the infamous Governor- General was more concerned 
in filling his pockets with the wealth of his mur- 
dered victims than in furthering the cause, of the 
Church of Eome, and that Catholics were little safer 
than Protestants if so unfortunate as to possess 
wealth. Even death by natural causes did not suffice. 
The bodies of persons against whom the shadow of 
a charge could be made were dug from the grave 
and bound to the gallows as an excuse for confiscating 
their estates. 

Thus was kept up the flow of the river of gold 
118 



BEGGARS OF THE SEA 119 

to Spain promised by Alva,, much of it apparently 
making its way into his private coffers. When the 
yellow flood began to fail at its source new expedi- 
ents were adopted to restore it. A law was passed 
requiring the tenth and the twentieth of all products 
to be paid into the public funds^ and on July 3, 1571, 
Alva issued an edict to the effect that this tax should 
be summarily collected. 

This edict precipitated what was practically an 
insurrection. The law had been bitterly opposed by 
the people and the attempt to enforce it was widely 
and effectively resisted. Every province, every city, 
remonstrated. The people gathered in masses and 
protested vehemently against the illegal and cruel 
impost. They went further, the merchants and petty 
dealers closing their places of business. Not a far- 
thing was paid, there being no tenth or tweijtieth to 
pay. The authority of the Duke of Alva was openly 
defied, no man saluted him as he passed through the 
streets, and the hatred of the people could scarcely 
be concealed. 

Everything stopped. " The brewers refused to 
brew, the bakers to bake, the tapsters to tap."' Multi- 
tudes suffered from lack of emplo}Tnent and general 
starvation seemed imminent. Articles of everyday 
necessity could not be had. Even in the capital 
bread, meat, and other provisions vanished from 
sight. The country was in insurrection — quietly but 
effectively. 

This silent rebellion threw the tyrant Duke into 
paroxysms of rage. Months passed and no money 
was forthcoming. In the end he determined to cow 
the traders by a terrible example. This was to hang 



120 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

eighteen of the leading tradesmen of the city at the 
doors of their own shops, without delay, without 
charge, and without trial. Master Carl, public exe- 
cutioner, was sent for and ordered to prepare eigh- 
teen hangman^s cords and eighteen ladders twelve 
feet long. These were to be used the next day in 
putting his project into execution. He thought that 
the sight of a dozen and a half of butchers and 
bakers hanging before their shop doors would stimu- 
late trade more than any argument or proclamation. 

Fortunately for the condemned traders news came 
in during that night that caused the irate governor 
to delay his purpose. The "Beggars of the Sea" 
had shown their daring and audacity. They had 
landed in Holland and the town of Brill was in their 
hands. The situation was a critical one, and forced 
the Duke for the time to postpone his plans of 
private vengeance. 

The story of the origin of the "Beggars" has 
been told. In the years that had intervened since the 
Brederode banquet this clan of rebels had spread 
throughout the Netherlands. The " Wild Beggars " 
and " Forest Beggars " had made their force felt, 
pursuing the vocation of common brigands. More 
terrible still became the " Beggars of the Sea," fierce 
corsairs who, while protesting patriotism, made their 
demands at times upon friends and foes alike. 

Life on the ocean waves was native to the Hol- 
landers, as it had been to the Scandinavians of old, 
and among those who now took to the waters were 
vikings as bold and ruthless as those of the older 
Northland. William of Orange perceived the useful 
aid these ocean rovers could give to his cause and 



BEGGARS OF THE SEA 121 

sought to organize and control them, but found this 
a difficult task. Banished lords, ruined merchants, 
daring seamen who could get vessels and crews, put 
to sea in numbers, the Prince of Orange, in his 
capacity as a sovereign prince, supplying them with 
letters of marque as privateers. 

One of these daring seamen, William de la Marck, 
a savage and licentious noble, had been appointed 
admiral by the Prince. He was a relative of the 
murdered Egmont, and had sworn never to cut his 
hair and beard until he had taken vengeance for the 
death of his noble relative. Alva and popery were 
his foes and against their cruelties he vowed deep 
revenge. 

At the period under review this fierce corsair was 
lying, with a well-armed fleet, on the southern coast 
of England. But friendly negotiations w§re now 
going on between the English Queen Elizabeth and 
the Duke of Alva, in consequence of which Elizabeth 
forbade any of her subjects to supply the Dutch 
corsairs with food. Thus reduced to a state of semi- 
starvation, the fleet, twenty-four vessels of varied 
sizes, put to sea from Dover, near the end of March, 
1572, bent upon a foray for food and spoil upon 
the coast of North Holland. On their way they cap- 
tured two Spanish merchantmen, which partly sup- 
plied them. 

Their goal was the rich seaport of Enkhuizen, but 
contrary winds forced a change of plan, and on 
April 1 they dropped down toward Zealand, entering 
the broad mouth of the Meuse. Here they suddenly 
appeared between the towns of Brill and Maasland- 
sluis, to the astonishment of the people, who could 



122 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

not imagine what vessels these were. When it was 
learned that they were the dreaded *^ Sea Beggars," 
dismay followed surprise, the ill-fame of these 
worthies being wide-spread. 

Peter Koppelstock, a fisherman, was the first to 
visit them, hailing the ship of William de Blois, lord 
of Treslong, one of the most famous of the ocean 
rebels. Treslong knew Koppelstock, took him to the 
Admiral's ship, and sent him ashore to Brill, with a 
message demanding its surrender. 

This was a bold message to come from a few hun- 
dred men. But they were driven by desperation, 
being now utterly destitute of food. Brill was a 
small place, but it was walled and fortified and could 
readily have held out. But when the magistrates 
asked Koppelstock how large a force was in the fleet, 
he, a partisan of the Prince of Orange, coolly replied 
that there might be some five thousand in all. 

This falsehood settled the question. Such a force 
could not be resisted. It became a problem whether 
to treat with them or flee. In the end both steps 
were taken. Envoys were sent to the fleet to parley 
with the Beggars, and meanwhile the magistrates 
and most of the people of the place took to flight 
with their portable treasures. When the invaders, 
after the two hours fixed for negotiation had passed, 
came up to the city walls, they found only a few of 
the lower class looking down upon them, with no 
trace of anyone in authority. 

No attempt at defence was made. De la Marck 
built a bonfire at the northern gate, and battered it 
down, when half burned, by the end of an old mast. 
Treslong forced the southern gate, and captured the 



BEGGARS OF THE SEA 123 

governor of the city, who had too long" delayed his 
escape. Thus was the first successful siege of the 
Netherlands accomplished, the two landing parties, 
about two hundred and fifty in all, meeting in the 
center of the town before sunset and taking quiet 
possession. 

The place was almost deserted. Scarcely fifty of 
the citizens remained. The Admiral, in the name 
of the Prince of Orange, took formal possession. 
But this was not a Spanish capture. There was no 
outrage, no looting of the people's houses. The only 
plunder was in the churches, of which the altars and 
images were destroyed, the rich furniture and vest- 
ments appropriated. Unfortunately thirteen priests 
and monks remained, and these, a few days later, were 
made to atone in a measure for Alva's barbarities, 
they being put to death in the most cruel *vay by 
the ferocious Admiral. 

We have seen the effect of this important exploit 
upon the mind of the Duke of Alva. News of it spread 
throughout the country and was everywhere hailed 
with acclamation. The wits of Brussels availed 
themselves of it in a couplet that grew widely popu- 
lar, based upon the fact that the capture was made 
on April Fool's Day and that the word Brill, in 
Flemish, means spectacles. The couplet ran : 

" On April Fool's Day 
Duke Alva's spectacles were stolen away." 

A caricature was also circulated showing De la 

Marck stealing the Duke's spectacles from his face. 

Alva lost no time in seeking to retake the cap- 



124 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

tared city. Count Bossu, stadtholder of Holland 
and Zealand, was sent with a force much larger than 
that of the Beggars to recover the lost seaport. The 
effort failed. A carpenter of Brill, a partisan of the 
Prince of Orange, swam, axe in hand, to the Nether- 
land sluice and hacked it open, letting the sea- water 
in. This made approach from the north impossible. 
Bossu then attacked the southern gate, but was met 
there with a staggering volley of artillery. While 
this went on Treslong and a companion had rowed 
out to the ships by which the enemy had reached the 
island, cutting some of these adrift and setting others 
on fire. 

This was too much for the Spaniards. The sight 
of their blazing vessels on the one hand and the in- 
flowing sea on the other filled them with terror, and 
they fled in all haste to the vessels that still remained, 
glad to escape from the triumphant Beggars. In 
the meantime many of the fugitive citizens of the 
town had returned to their homes and De la Marck 
obliged all these to take an oath of allegiance to the 
Prince of Orange as stadtholder for his Majesty. 

The Prince was not well satisfied on hearing of 
this exploit. He had no confidence in De la Marck 
and doubted if the place could be held. The Ad- 
miral, indeed, had no thought of doing so, but Tres- 
long insisted on its being retained, and his argu- 
ments prevailed. To him, then, was due the first 
step in founding the Dutch Republic, which was to 
be the later work of the Prince. 

Brill was the first, but not the only place now put 
imder the control of the Prince. Flushing, an im- 
portant seaport on the Isle of Walcheren, was quickly 



BEGGARS OF THE SEA 125 

added. The Seigneur de Herpt, an ardent partisan 
of Orange, roused the burghers to arms and drove 
out the small Spanish garrison. A reinforcement 
was just then at hand, but the gates were closed 
against them and the city held. In the crowd of 
rebel citizens was a half-drunken fool who proposed, 
for a pot of beer, to mount the ramparts and fire at 
the Spanish ships. His offer was accepted and he 
climbed the wall and discharged the two guns he 
found there. This bravado scared the Spanish, who 
fled in panic to the ships in which they had come 
and sailed in all haste away. Treslong soon after 
arrived, leading a small force sent from Brill, and 
took command of the place in the name of the Prince 
of Orange, who thus gained another stronghold in 
the Commonwealth. 



CHAPTER XV 

THE CAPTURE AND EVACUATION OF MONS 

The year 1572 was one that began with triumph 
and ended with disaster for the Prince of Orange 
and the cause of liberty in the Netherlands. The 
capture of Brill and Flushing was followed by a 
general insurrection in the north, city after city 
rising against the Spaniards until nearly all the 
important cities in Holland and Zealand had raised 
the standard of the Prince. Haarlem, Leyden and 
numbers of other cities placed themselves under the 
government of Orange, the nation throwing off its 
fetters with a bound of enthusiasm that sadly shook 
the Spanish hold. 

The fiction of fealty to the King of Spain was 
kept up, the Prince of Orange being chosen by the 
cities as his stadtholder. The revolt was against 
Alva, not against Philip. The idea of national free- 
dom was not yet publicly set afloat. While this 
went on the Prince remained in Germany, gathering 
troops and seeking for funds. Suddenly, near the 
end of May, the popular cause was strengthened by 
a brilliant and successful exploit, performed by 
Louis of Nassau, the Prince's gallant brother, ^^ the 
Bayard of the Netherlands." This was the capture 
of the city of Mons, in southern Belgium, near the 
borders of France, the first city to be won in the 
south. The exploit was one so full of romantic 
incident and bold daring that it is amply worth 
telling. 
126 



CAPTURE AND EVACUATION OF MONS 127 

It begins with the story of Antony Oliver, a native 
of Mons, and a map maker, in which line of work 
he had been employed by Alva and had won his con- 
fidence. As Oliver had occasion to visit France, 
the Duke engaged him to watch Louis of Nassau, 
then in Paris and seeking aid from the French court. 
Oliver, however, was really an earnest patriot, and a 
correspondent of the Prince of Orange. His secret 
purpose was to induce Louis to attempt the capture 
of Mons, in which were many adherents of the Prince. 

A plan having been devised with Louis and several 
of the Huguenot chiefs, Oliver took the first step 
towards its accomplishment. He appeared at the 
gates of Mons on May 23, with three wagons laden 
with merchandise — but this merchandise was really 
a freight of arquebuses. Being brought safely 
through the gates they were secretly disti-ibuted 
among the confederates of Oliver in the city. 

While this was being done Count Louis reached 
the vicinity of the city, bringing five hundred horse- 
men and a thousand foot-soldiers, whom he con- 
cealed in the thick forests near by. As evening ap- 
proached he sent twelve of his most trusty followers 
into the city, in the guise of wine merchants. These 
men went to a public house, ordered their supper, 
and while eating talked with the landlord. In a 
careless tone he was asked at what hour in the morn- 
ing the city gates were opened, they saying that they 
had some wine-casks that they would like to smug- 
gle into the city before sunrise. Their host replied 
that four o'clock was the usual hour, but that by a 
trifling present they would get the keeper to open 
earlier. 



128 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

The next morning at a very early hour the seeming 
merchants appeared at the gate, where they bribed 
the keeper with the promise of a liberal " drink 
penny/' But he had no sooner drawn the bolts than 
he was struck dead, and a body of about fifty dra- 
goons, who had gathered outside, rode into the 
streets. These, led by Count Louis, galloped wildly 
through the city, crying: 

^^ France! Liberty! The town is ours! The 
Prince is coming! Down with the tenth penny! 
Down with Alva, the murderer ! '' 

Wherever a burgher looked with surprise from his 
window a musket shot warned him to draw back, 
and from the noise made by the troops and their 
boldness they might well have been a thousand 
strong. 

But the streets remained empty. Not a man 
among their confederates appeared. They had lost 
courage at the last minute. While fifty men might 
surprise they could not hold a city, and the im- 
petuous Count had far outridden his army. The 
position of the little troop was critical. When the 
day should fully open and the alarm become general 
they would find themselves caught in a trap. 

Count Louis, in a state approaching consterna- 
tion, now rode hastily back in quest of the miss- 
ing troops and found them wandering wildly 
in the woods. They had lost their way among the 
thick shrubbery. Bidding each horseman to take 
a foot-soldier on the crupper behind him, he led 
them rapidly towards Mons. They reached the city 
in the nick of time. The authorities had taken the 
alarm and had ordered the closing of the gates. 



CAPTURE AND EVACUATION OF MONS 129 

All but one of these were closed. At this the keeper 
was quarrelling with a French soldier about an arque- 
buse. Others were at the drawbridge across the moat, 
which had begun to rise. 

At this critical moment Guitry de Chaumont, a 
Erench officer, urged his horse forward and sprang 
upon the bridge as it rose. The weight of the horse 
brought it down again, he rode forward, the gate 
was forced, and Louis and his men rode headlong 
into the town, their force being sufficient to give 
them command of the place. 

The bells were rung; the people assembled in the 
market place; Louis made a brief address, saying 
that he was no enemy to the King or the Catholic 
religion, but only to the Duke of Alva, and calling 
upon them to declare Alva a traitor to the King, 
an enemy to the country, an executioner of the j)eople. 

This bold act was too much for the magistrates 
to take, and they refused to support the movement 
of Count Louis or to supply money to pay his troops. 
His position would soon have been serious but for 
the stand taken by the citizens, who largely favored 
the cause of the Prince of Orange. Mons was noted 
for its great cloth and silk manufactories, and many 
of the proprietors of these offered their support to the 
Count, raising and arming companies at their own 
expense. Many volunteer companies were also or- 
ganized, the fortifications were put in order, and 
Mons came into line among the patriot cities. A 
large collection of money and valuables, which had 
been sent to the city for safe keeping by neighboring 
churches and convents, supplied funds, and im- 
portant reinforcements from France and elsewhere 
9 



130 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

soon reached the town. In this way the capture of 
the place was secured. 

To see the Netherlands thus slipping from his 
control was a bitter dose for the Duke of Alva, as 
was also the hatred which the people felt for him 
and did not hesitate to show. He had requested 
Philip to remove him and appoint a successor, but 
now he made vigorous efforts to regain control of 
the captured cities. His son, Don Frederic, was 
sent with an army to besiege Mons, and reinforce- 
ments were despatched from Spain to his aid. 

Unluckily for the Spanish reinforcements, they 
were not aware of the changes that had taken place. 
A large fleet, under the Duke of Medina-Cceli, put 
into Flushing, not knowing of its recent capture 
by the Sea Beggars. The fleet was attacked and 
scattered, with considerable loss of ships and troops. 
A large Lisbon mercantile fleet that followed, equally 
ignorant, was captured, only three or four vessels 
escaping. 

This proved a rich prize for the rebels. The ships 
were laden with money, jewelry, spices and rich 
merchandise, the money alone totalling five hundred 
thousand gold crowns. Here was plunder enough 
to supply the rebels with funds for two years, while 
a thousand Spanish soldiers and a supply of ammu- 
nition were also taken. 

Meanwhile the Prince had raised another army 
in Germany, consisting of fifteen thousand foot and 
seven thousand horse, together with nearly three 
thousand Netherlanders. He had no money with 
which to pay them, and subscriptions were asked for 
his aid. This produced a quick and liberal response. 



CAPTURE AND EVACUATION OF MONS 131 

the people showing an enthusiastic spirit in favor of 
their great leader, upon whom they conferred dicta- 
torial and practically regal power. 

On the 7th of July the Prince led his army across 
the Ehine, and in the period that followed he marched 
in triumph through the country, city after city open- 
ing its gates to him. It seemed like the triumphal 
march of a conqueror returning to his native land. 
With support from the Huguenots of France, prom- 
ise of aid from the French King, and an agreement 
of Admiral Coligny to Join him with a force of fif- 
teen thousand troops, all seemed hopeful for the 
Netherlands, and Spanish rule was in serious 
jeopardy. 

Such was the state of affairs in late August, 
1572. Coligny wrote to the Prince on August 11, 
promising to come to his assistance with the sanction 
and aid of his King. Yet at that very moment the 
French court was secretly planning one of the most 
frightful deeds of perfidy ever performed by man, 
the Massacre of St. Bartholomew. This infamous 
act of slaughter took place two weeks later and its 
consummation dashed the hopes of the Prince and 
his followers to the ground. 

From that time forward disaster succeeded to 
triumph. One incident of the later campaign was 
the following. While of no special military im- 
portance, it has a strong personal interest. While 
the Prince was encamped at Hermigny a party from 
Don Frederic's army made a night attack upon his 
camp, taking it so completely by surprise that for 
some two hours the Spaniards cut down their foes 
almost without resistance. 



132 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

The Spanish leader led the way to the Prince's 
tent, with the hope of capturing or killing him. 
He and his guards, with no thought of danger, were 
fast asleep and the enterprise of the Spaniard was 
highly promising. Fortunately there was one sen- 
tinel awake, a little spaniel, which always passed 
the night upon its master's bed. Hearing footsteps 
outside it began to bark furiously and to scratch 
the Prince's face with its paws. Eoused by his little 
friend, the imperilled leader sprang from his couch, 
leaped to the back of a horse which stood ready sad- 
dled, and rode hastily away just in time to escape 
his nearby foes. It is said that to his dying day 
the Prince kept a spaniel of the same race in his 
bed-chamber. 

The remaining incidents of the campaign may be 
briefly told. The soldiers led by the Prince, whom 
he was unable to pay, became mutinous, and refused 
to follow him to the relief of Mons or to remain in 
the field. The news of the massacre of the Hugue- 
nots in France had struck the camp like a boomerang 
and the Prince was forced to disband his army and 
leave Mons to its fate. He returned to Holland 
almost alone and sadly discouraged. At the same 
time Count Louis lay sick with a violent fever, and 
affairs at Mons soon reached so desperate a stage 
that nothing remained but capitulation. 

An agreement was made under which the soldiers 
were to march out with their weapons and property, 
and also the townspeople who had aided them. They 
were to pledge themselves never to serve against the 
kings of France and Spain. The rest of the people 
were not to be molested in person and property. 



CAPTURE AND EVACUATION OF MONS 133 

The latter was an Tinusual arrangement for the 
Diike of Alva and his leaders to make. As it proved, 
there was little thought of keeping it. After the de- 
parture of Louis and his troops the usual orgie of 
massacre and pillage quickly began, no heed what- 
ever being paid to the terms of the capitulation. 
Hundreds of people were hanged, burned, and be- 
headed for no other crime than the possession of 
some share of wealth. Thus ended the hopes which 
had been entertained of freedom in the ]N"etherlands, 
the frightful act of perfidy in France making itself 
thus felt in utter discouragement in the neighboring 
kingdom. 



CHAPTER XVI 

THE SIEGE OF HAARLEM 

The Prince of Orange, when the Massacre of St. 
Bartholomew took place, was at the head of twenty 
thousand soldiers and had good reason to hope for 
the complete conquest of the Netherlands. When 
he rode back to the province of Holland, after that 
dire event, he had only seventy horsemen at his back 
and all his high hopes had flown. The capture of 
Mons by the Spaniards had been followed by that 
of several other towns, the inhabitants of which had 
been slaughtered with all the excesses of cruelty 
which the Duke of Alva and his army could imagine 
or invent. 

Of the northern provinces only Holland stood out 
sturdily for the Prince of Orange, and this Alva 
now sent his son Don Frederic to subdue. The 
Prince had come to Holland, deserted, discouraged, 
but not despairing, and resolved to share its fate 
if he could not accomplish its liberation. He called 
at Haarlem an assembly of the States of the Prov- 
inces, laid before them his plans, and made all the 
preparations he could for the death-struggle that 
impended. 

Amsterdam was the only place in Holland then 
held by Alva, and thither the Duke proceeded, that 
he might oversee the campaign for its general con- 
quest. The Prince of Orange was then in the south 
of the province. Diedrich Sonay, his lieutenant, was 
in the north, both very weak in men and munitions. 
Between them lay the important city of Haarlem, at 
134 



SIEGE OF HAARLEM 135 

a point where the peninsula is so narrow that it is 
practically less than five miles from sea to sea. If 
this city could be taken the province would be cut 
in two, in which case it was thought that further 
resistance by the rebels would be out of the question. 
A siege of this city, then, was the logical enterprise 
for the Duke to undertake. 

While so near the J^orth Sea, from which it was 
separated by a width of meadow land and a bulwark 
of sand-dunes cast up by the waves, Haarlem lay 
on a body of water known as the Haarlem Lake, 
which communicated with the Zuyder Zee by the 
channel known as the Y. On this also lay Amster- 
dam, ten miles to the east, a narrow causeway be- 
tween the two bodies of water connecting the two 
cities. 

Haarlem, while one of the largest and most*beauti- 
ful cities of Holland, was, in a military sense, one 
of the weakest. Its walls, ancient in date, were not 
strong, and were of such an extent as to render a 
large garrison necessary. What strength it had lay 
in the stout hearts of its people, but these proved 
an almost impregnable rampart. 

The siege began on December 11, 1572, Don 
Frederic having the day before captured the outlying 
fort of Sparendam. The besieging army was from 
time to time reinforced until it numbered fully 
thirty thousand men, so posted as to encircle the 
town except where it infringed upon the lake. This 
force was more than double the whole population of 
the city, the available garrison being at no time 
more than four thousand. In the beginning it was 
much less. 



136 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

Fortunately for the besieged, a dense and persist- 
ent fog then covered the frozen surface of the lake, 
under the curtain of which large supplies of men, 
food, and ammunition were daily introduced, de- 
spite all the ejfforts of the besiegers to prevent this. 
Sledges were drawn swiftly over the ice by skilful 
skaters, and during the short days and long nights 
of December the city was actively supplied. By this 
means the garrison was increased to about four thou- 
sand men, while it was aided by about three hundred 
women, a corps of Amazons who fought as bravely as 
the men. 

The Prince's first attempt to reinforce it was by 
a body of several thousand men, under the command 
of De la Marck. But this effort proved unfortunate, 
the relieving force being completely routed, with 
large loss. Don Frederic had little thought of an 
efficient resistance on the part of the citizens, and, 
after a three days' cannonade, he ordered an assault. 
He was confident of taking the place in a week's 
time, and calculated that after another week spent 
in plunder and massacre he could sweep on to the 
conquest of the remainder of Holland. He was 
destined to find his optimistic plans sadly misplaced. 

As it proved, the assailing troops met with a re- 
sistance that astonished and dismayed them. The 
church bells rang the alarm and the whole population 
swarmed to the walls, armed with all the implements 
of destruction they could find. In addition to the 
work of sword and musket, heavy stones, hot coals 
and boiling oil were poured down upon their heads. 
Even hoops, smeared with pitch and set on fire, were 
flung down so as to encircle their necks. This was 



SIEGE OF HAARLEM 137 

more than they had counted on and, after many 
officers and several hundred men lay dead and 
wounded, the signal of recall was sounded. In this 
repulse of their foes only three or four of the towns- 
men lost their lives. 

Soon afterward the Prince made a second effort to 
send reinforcements, but it met the same fate as the 
first. The troops, when near the city, lost their way 
in the thick fog, and very few of them reached the 
city, though fog bells were rung and beacons lighted 
on the walls to guide them. Fiercely attacked by the 
Spaniards, not many of them escaped. 

Don Frederic, disappointed in his expectation of 
a speedy victory, now settled down to a regular 
siege, one which he was to find far more protracted 
than he dreamed of. Finding the effort to carry 
the place by assault was too costly and uncertain, he 
began to make his way towards the walls by sub- 
terranean approaches. His mines, however, were 
met by countermines and ere long deadly combats 
began beneath the surface, Spaniards and Nether- 
landers meeting within trenches so narrow that only 
the dagger could be used as a weapon, the dim 
lanterns of the excavators serving to light up the 
struggle. Mines were frequently laid and exploded, 
a shower of the mangled remains of human beings 
being hurled up into the air. Thus the under- 
ground contest went on, the Spaniards toiling with 
a zeal that was matched by that of their opponents. 

Meanwhile the Prince of Orange did all he could 
to inspirit and aid the townsmen. Letters were sent 
into the town by means of carrier pigeons, and in 
late January he succeeded in sending a considerable 



138 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

supply of bread and powder, and also four hundred 
veteran soldiers, by means of sledges over the ice- 
covered Haarlem Lake. 

The ravelin before the Cross gate was a point 
of peril, its approaches being actively defended but 
in serious danger. Aware of its perilous weakness, 
the defenders secretly and rapidly, during the winter 
nights, built a half-moon of solid masonry within 
the portal, even old men, women, and children lend- 
ing their aid to this important work, so necessary ia 
case of the gate being carried. 

On the 31st of January Don Frederic, after sev- 
eral days of cannonading, ordered a midnight assault 
against the Cross and St. John gates and their con- 
necting curtains. The walls had been much shat- 
tered; numbers of Spaniards mounted the trench; 
the assault was so sudden and unexpected that the 
city was nearly taken by surprise. So sure of success 
was the Spanish commander that he gave orders to 
his men to be ready to cut down the citizens whom he 
expected to flee in panic from the captured town. 

But he counted too hastily. Though the charge 
was unlooked for, the sentinels were alert and quickly 
gave the alarm, the town bells pealed loudly, and 
the awakened citizens hastened in numbers to the 
ramparts. When daylight came the struggle was 
at its height, the besieged, as before, defending 
themselves not only with sword and spear, but with 
stones, firebrands and melted pitch. In the end the 
Spanish made an impetuous assault upon the Cross 
gate and carried the ravelin, into which they poured, 
expecting from this point of vantage to sweep the 
city with fire and sword. 



SIEGE OF HAARLEM 139 

Again they counted without their host. As they 
mounted the wall they saw to their surprise the 
strong half-moon wall which had been secretly built 
within, cannon bristling on its top, from which a 
hot fire was opened upon the storming party. At 
the same time the ravelin, which had been mined, 
blew up like a hidden volcano, hurling the soldiers 
within it into the air. This was too much for the 
assailants, who fled in dismay to their camp, leaving 
three hundred dead beneath the wall. 

Don Frederic, finding himself a second time foiled 
by the resolute citizens, now decided that no course 
remained but to reduce the city by famine. This 
was a slow process, the effects of which were felt as 
severely without as within the walls, the besieging 
army suffering as much from lack of food as the citi- 
zens. Disease also attacked their camp, heightened 
by the wintry cold and insufficient food, deaths from 
this cause being much greater than from the weapons 
of the defenders. 

Within the city, as the long winter went on, the 
food supply daily diminished. There was danger 
that it would be entirely cut off with the coming 
of spring and the melting of the ice. The half- 
starved citizens paced the ramparts with beating 
drums and flying flags, taunting the investing forces 
to fight and feeling that anything would be better 
than this enforced inaction. They even attired them- 
selves in the gold-embroidered vestments of the 
priests and paced the walls in mock procession, 
carrying symbols held sacred by the Catholics, which 
they hurled from the walls with shouts of derision. 
But even this was of no effect; the Spaniards kept 



140 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

within their tents, and gaunt famine was left to 
complete the work. 

Don Frederic, seeing his men dying in helpless 
multitudes around him, now seriously proposed to 
give up the siege, thinking that enough had been 
done for the honor of Spanish arms. But to this 
his father was sternly opposed and hostilities again 
became active on both sides. In this the besieged 
proved especially daring, making frequent sallies, in 
one of which, under cover of a fog, they sought to 
spike the guns of the enemy before his face. The 
attempt failed and they were all slain, but courage 
like this inspired the citizens to new deeds of daring. 
As spring came on the cows within the city were 
driven daily to their pastures without the walls, 
where they were guarded so valiantly that the Span- 
iards failed to capture one of these useful animals 
without paying for it by at least a dozen deaths. 

After the breaking of the frost, in early March, the 
conflict was in a measure transferred to the lake. 
Count Bossu, an able Spanish leader, had built a 
small fleet of vessels at Amsterdam and now entered 
the lake with a few gunboats, through a breach made 
by him in the dyke. The Prince took similar meas- 
ures and soon had armed vessels on Haarlem Lake. 
This movement threw Amsterdam, which depended 
on the dyke for its supplies, into imminent peril. 

" Since I came into the world I have never been 
in such anxiety,'^ wrote Alva. *' If they should suc- 
ceed in cutting ofl the communication along the 
dykes we would have to raise the siege of Haarlem, 
to surrender, hands crossed, or to starve." 

Orange's lack of men and of means saved Alva 



SIEGE OF HAARLEM 141 

and Amsterdam from this disaster. With the small 
force at his command he was sadly hampered. A 
force was sent by Sonay to open the sluices and 
break the dyke, but these were driven back by a large 
body of troops from Amsterdam. They fought 
sturdily but in vain, one of them, John Haring, of 
Horn, exhibiting a valor ne\er surpassed in ancient 
Eome. Armed with sword and shield he stood at a 
point on the dyke where it was so narrow that two 
men could scarcely stand abreast. Here he held 
back a thousand or more of the enemy long enough 
to enable his own men to rally and repel the attack. 
As none came to his aid he held the post still until 
they had all made good their retreat. Then he 
plunged into the lake and reached the boats, un- 
touched by bullet or blade. 

Amsterdam thus rescued from danger, tlfe battle 
before Haarlem went on with renewed fury, almost 
daily combats taking place. In one of these, on 
March 25, a thousand of the citizens made a brilliant 
sally, drove in the Spanish outposts, burned three 
hundred tents, killed eight hundred of the enemy 
while losing only four out of their own force, and 
returned with captured cannon and standards and 
many wagon-loads of provisions. The Duke of Alva 
informed King Philip that ^* never was a place de- 
fended with such skill and bravery as Haarlem, either 
by rebels or by men fighting for their lawful Prince." 

Money and men were needed to continue the siege, 
and these were provided, three veteran regiments 
being brought from Italy. The fleet on the lake was 
also increased, but here the Prince met the enemy 
with more than a hundred vessels of every size and 



142 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

kind, and sea-combats were of almost daily occur- 
rence. At length, on May 25, a final engagement 
took place between Bossu's fleet of one hundred sail, 
and the patriot fleet of nearly one hundred and fifty, 
of smaller size, under Martin Brand. The fight was 
long and deadly, but ended in favor of the Spaniards, 
twenty-two of the Prince's vessels being taken and 
the others totally routed, the dead on both sides 
numbering several thousands. This victory gave 
Bossu command of the lake, and threw Haarlem into 
imminent danger. 

The food supply had now become very low, fresh 
supplies and reinforcements were cut off, and in a 
short time all bread was consumed and the people 
were forced to subsist on linseed and rape-seed. 
When these were gone, only cats, dogs, rats and mice 
remained. Those, too, were consumed and the people 
forced to eat the boiled hides of horses and oxen, 
shoe leather, and nettles and grass from the grave- 
yards. Thus passed the month of June, men, women 
and children dying by scores of pure starvation, 
while the despairing Prince was vainly seeking means 
to rescue them. 

A large body of men was gathered, hopelessly ig- 
norant of war, and disapproved of by the Prince, 
who, however, offered to lead them. This proposal 
met with so universal a protest that he was obliged 
to withdraw. Holland could not risk the life of a 
man so needful for its existence. As for the effort, 
it utterly failed, as he had expected. The Spaniards, 
who had gained knowledge of their plans, met and 
defeated them so utterly that the entire body was 
killed or dispersed. 



SIEGE OF HAARLEM 143 

This ended all efforts. Surrender became neces- 
sary, and it was made on July 12, 1573, seven months 
after the siege began. Don Frederic had assured the 
people that no punishment would be inflicted on any 
except those who in the judgment of the citizens 
themselves had deserved it, and had promised ample 
forgiveness if the place should submit without further 
delay. 

This was a Spanish promise, made without in- 
tention of being kept. A general massacre of the 
garrison, except those of German origin, had been 
ordered by the Duke of Alva, and also the execution 
of a large number of the burghers, and this order 
Don Frederic dared not disobey. 

There was no general plunder and massacre, as 
so usual in those days, but carnage under the shadow 
of legal forms went on until twenty-three hundred 
citizens had been slaughtered in cold blood. Then a 
pardon for the rest was enacted. The Spaniards had 
paid dearly for their victory, for during the siege 
twelve thousand of the besieging army had died of 
wounds and disease. In early August Don Frederic 
rode in triumph into the city which he had taken, 
his entry closing the first chapter in the proposed 
conquest of Holland. 



CHAPTER XVII 

VICTORY FOR THE PATRIOTS 

DoN" Frederic's hope of following up the capture 
of Haarlem by a speedy conquest of the remainder 
of Holland failed to materialize. His period of 
success was to be followed by one of defeat. Even 
Haarlem, won at such cost, was in imminent danger 
of being lost, in consequence of a mutiny in its 
garrison. 

Furious at not being paid and at being checked in 
their usual orgy of plunder and outrage, the Spanish 
soldiers grew rebellious against their commanders, 
and even formed a plot for surrendering the city to 
the Prince of Orange. A party of them, disguised 
as merchants from the Baltic, visited Delft and were 
secretly admitted to the Prince's apartment. They 
told him who they were and why they had come and 
offered to deliver the city into his hands for forty 
thousand guilders. Unfortunately for the Prince, 
he found it impossible to raise this amount within 
the stipulated time, and thus, for the lack of a 
small sum, this alluring offer had to be declined. 

Meanwhile Don Frederic had moved northward in 
his career of hoped-for conquest and had invested the 
little city of Alkmaar, nineteen miles north of Am- 
sterdam. It had already been summoned to surren- 
der but had boldly refused. This was in July. In 
August, having quelled the mutiny at Haarlem by 
paying the soldiers their dues, Don Frederic marched 
upon this city, investing it on the 21st with a force 
of sixteen thousand men. To meet this Alkmaar 
144 



VICTORY FOR THE PATRIOTS 145 

had only eight hundred trained soldiers, who were 
aided by thirteen hundred armed burghers. But 
these men knew that they must take their chance of 
death in war or die in massacre, and they preferred 
the former. The Duke of Alva was furious that his 
clemency in Haarlem had been disdained and he now 
proposed to wreak his vengeance upon Alkmaar. 
He wrote to the King : 

" If I take Alkmaar I am resolved not to leave 
a single creature alive ; the knife shall be put to every 
throat. Since the example of Haarlem has proved 
of no use, perhaps an example of cruelty will bring 
the other cities to their senses." 

Such was war under the Duke of Alva and Philip 
II. It is not surprising that the small garrison of 
Alkmaar, who were sure of what awaited them, were 
steeled to a desperate defence. 4 

The main hope of the citizens of the beleaguered 
city lay in the sea. A few miles away were the great 
sluices known as the Zyp. If these were opened, and 
a few dykes pierced, the whole northern section of the 
province would be inundated and the besieging army 
drowned out. But to do this would be to destroy 
all the crops of that fertile district, and it was felt 
needful to obtain the consent of the authorities. For 
this purpose an envoy was necessary. So closely was 
the city .Invested that this was a matter of life or 
death, but a carpenter, Peter Van der Mey, accepted 
the mission and achieved it successfully, carrying let- 
ters addressed to the Prince, to Sonay, his lieutenant 
in the north, and to other leading personages, these 
being carefully hidden in a hollow walking stick. 

During his absence the siege went hotly on, the 
10 



146 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

most strenuous effort being made on September 18. 
For nearly twelve hours the city was cannonaded, 
after which, at three in the afternoon, an assault 
was launched. It was made in great force, on two 
sides of the walls, but the garrison met it with daunt- 
less courage. Every man capable of bearing arms 
was on the walls, and, as at Haarlem, the assailants 
were met not only with cannon and musketry, but 
with boiling water, pitch and oil, molten lead, and 
tarred and blazing hoops which were skilfully flung 
over the shoulders of the assailants. Those who 
succeeded in climbing the breach were hurled back 
into the moat below. 

Thrice was the assault renewed, thrice repulsed. 
The combat continued for four long hours. While 
the men fought valorously on the walls, the women 
and children steadily supplied them with powder and 
balls from the arsenal. Every soul in the city capable 
of walking took part in the desperate struggle. At 
length, as night fell, the trumpets recalled the Span- 
iards, of whom a thousand at least lay dead. Only 
ihirty-seven of the gallant defenders lost their lives. 

Two days later a fresh cannonade was opened and 
the soldiers were once more ordered to the assault. 
They utterly refused. Threats and entreaties were 
in vain. Not a man of them could be induced to 
face again those devils within. Several of them 
were cut down by their officers, but without avail, and 
Don Frederic was obliged to postpone the assault. 

Meanwhile the carpenter envoy had reached the 
Prince of Orange with his letters, and brought 
back with him orders to Sonay to flood the country, 
rather than let Alkmaar fall into the hands of the 



VICTORY FOR THE PATRIOTS 147 

enemy. The opened dykes and sluices were to be 
guarded by a strong force, lest the peasants should 
close them to save their crops. 

The work of inundation was begun. The sluices 
were opened and the sea rushed furiously through. 
Two strong dykes remained. If those were pierced 
the harvests would be utterly ruined, but the Span- 
iards would have to flee or drown, and Alkmaar 
would be saved. 

Before this was done the carpenter had returned to 
the city, doing so with great peril. In passing 
through the enemy's lines he lost the stick in which 
his letters were hidden and could only tell the people 
the result of his mission. As for the loss of the walk- 
ing stick, it proved fortunate. It was found by the 
soldiers, its secret discovered, and the letters within 
brought to Don Frederic. Their contents tilarmed 
him. He knew that if the soldiers saw the waters 
rising about their feet nothing could hold them in 
that situation. An immediate retreat was necessary, 
and on October 8 the seven weeks' siege was raised 
and Don Frederic retired in discomfiture. The pur- 
pose of the Hollanders of drowning their country, if 
by so doing they could drown out its invaders, was too 
much even for Spanish valor. 

This was not the only success of the patriots. 
Three days after the raising of the siege of Alkmaar 
victory at sea followed that on the land, a naval battle 
being fought in the Zuyder Zee from which the 
patriots emerged in triumph. 

Count Bossu, the admiral who had won a battle on 
Haarlem Lake during the siege, was now on the 
waters of the Zuyder Zee with a fleet of considerable 



148 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

strength, built at Amsterdam. On the same waters 
was a hostile fleet of twenty-five vessels, collected in 
North Holland and commanded by Admiral Dirk- 
zoon. Bossu's ships were the larger and had heavier 
cannon, and as he well knew that the Spaniards were 
no match for the Dutch in naval warfare, he took 
care not to come to close quarters. 

On October 11 the patriot fleet, favored by a strong 
breeze, bore down upon that of Spain, numbering 
thirty sail. A short but hot engagement followed, 
ending in the flight of the Spaniards. They were pur- 
sued and five of them captured, the others escaping. 

Bossu, indignant at the flight of his captains, 
refused to follow their example. His ship, which 
bore the significant title of the Inquisition, was 
much the strongest and best manned in both fleets, 
and was capable of a sturdy fight. While Dirkzoon's 
fleet pursued the fugitives, four small vessels re- 
mained, and boldly attacked the Inquisition. One of 
these was silenced, but the other three grappled with 
the Spanish ship and a savage battle followed as the 
four closely linked ships drifted before wind and tide. 

It was a battle for life or death. Bossu and his 
men, armed in bullet-proof coats of mail, fought 
vigorously and repelled every attempt to board. 
The Hollanders, on their part, attacked with pitch 
hoops, molten lead and boiling oil. The battle began 
at three in the afternoon and continued throughout 
the night, the patriots losing heavily at every attempt 
to board the AdmiraFs ship, but keeping up the fight 
without cessation. 

In the heat of the action the vessels went ashore on 
the shoal called the Nek, an event almost unnoticed 



VICTORY FOR THE PATRIOTS 149 

by the combatants. As morning broke John Haring, 
the heroic fighter who had faced a thousand soldiers 
on Diemer dyke, boarded the Inquisition and 
hauled down her colors. The daring feat cost him 
his life, he being shot through the body. The colors 
were raised again and for several hours more the 
fight continued. In the end it became evident to 
Bossu that further resistance was hopeless. Aground 
on a hostile coast, his fleet dispersed, three-fourths 
of his men dead or wounded, and his foes being 
constantly reinforced by boats from the shore, he 
was finally forced to yield after a fight nearly twenty 
hours in duration. He, and three hundred of his men, 
were taken prisoners. Bossu had won the intense 
hatred of the Dutch, as it was due to him that a cruel 
and treacherous massacre had taken place at Rotter- 
dam. In the end, however, he regained his liberty. 

These failures of the Spaniards and successes of 
the patriots were galling to the pride of the Duke of 
Alva. The hatred which had been felt for him was 
now intensified by scorn at his defeats. He felt also 
that his royal master was growing cold towards him. 
He had long before asked to be relieved and this 
request had recently been accepted, Don Louis de 
Eequesans, the Grand Commander of Saint Jago, 
being appointed to succeed him. On the 18th of 
December, 1573, the infamous Alva took his depart- 
ure for Spain, after seven years of a rule unsur- 
passed in historic annals for cruelty and atrocity. 
During these years more than eighteen thousand of 
the inhabitants had been executed at his command, 
in addition to the multitudes who had died from star- 
vation and massacre. 



CHAPTER XVIII 

HOW LEYDElSr WAS SAVED BY THE SEA 

Most famous of all the sieges in Holland was that 
of Leyden^ a city situated on the Old Ehine Eiver, 
five miles from the North Sea, twenty-two miles 
southwest of Amsterdam and nine miles north of 
the Hague. In the fifteenth century it was widely 
known for its manufactures of cloth, baize, and cam- 
let. With its population of about 100,000 it was a 
place of importance and one that the new governor 
of the Netherlands was eager to win. The capture of 
Haarlem, therefore, was quickly followed by a siege 
of this flourishing city. 

Eequesens, the new governor of the Netherlands, 
did not find that Alva had left a gold mine behind 
him. The rebellion of the Netherlands and the effort 
to subdue it had proved a costly matter for Spain. 
Forty millions of dollars had already been spent, and 
a great part of the wealth which that country derived 
from its colonies in the New World had vanished in 
this sinking fund of the lowlands of Europe. The 
soldiers in the Netherlands, 62,000 in number, were 
largely unpaid, six and a half millions of ducats 
being due them, and were in a state of mutinous 
irritation in consequence. 

Nor was the state of the war in the Netherlands 
very promising to the Spanish dominion. Louis of 
Nassau was in active and promising negotiations for 
aid from the King of France. On the sea the Hol- 
landers and Zealanders were keeping up the rebellion 
150 



LEYDEN SAVED BY THE SEA 151 

successful!}^, the Spaniards being no matcli for these 
bold and brave sailors who made the ocean their 
native realm. 

The island of Walcheren was in the hands of the 
patriots with the exception of Middleburg, and this 
was closely besieged. It was held by Mondragon, an 
able soldier, but by the end of 15 73 was in a state of 
famine, in which only dogs, cats, rats and mice 
were left to serve for food. Eequesens, in an attempt 
to relieve it, collected a fleet of seventy-five ships at 
Bergen and thirty at Antwerp, both freighted with 
provisions. But they had to deal with a strong fleet 
got together by the Prince of Orange, under the 
command of Admiral Boisot, who attacked the Ber- 
gen fleet with such fury that it was utterly routed 
and driven back into its port, fifteen of the vessels 
being taken and hundreds of Spaniards slain. 

This was the death-blow to Middleburg, which 
was obliged to surrender. The Prince demanded 
that the surrender should be unconditional, but 
Mondragon swore that rather than do so he would 
set fire to the city, and perish with all the soldiers 
and burghers in the flames. The Prince knew that 
Mondragon was a man to do what he had said, and 
finally granted him the privilege of leaving the city 
with his troops in martial array. 

The next step taken by the Prince of Orange was 
an endeavor to raise the siege of Leyden, and for 
this he depended upon Count Louis, his warlike 
brother, who was then in Germany. Here he suc- 
ceeded in raising a body of troops, aided by money 
received from France. In February, 1574, he crossed 
the Ehine, with an army of six thousand foot and 



152 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

three thousand horse, and encamped on the Meuse, 
near Maestricht. 

Disaster attended the expedition at every step. 
More than a thousand of his men deserted before he 
reached the Meuse. A night attack by the Spaniards 
disposed of seven hundred more almost without loss 
to the Spanish army. Finally, on April 14, when 
confronted by a superior force, his troops broke into 
a mutiny, demanding their pay with howls of rage. 
The natural consequence ensued. Though Count 
Louis handled his men with his old skill and vigor, 
the contest was practically hopeless from the start. 
The close of the action was in a desperate charge, 
made by Count Louis, with a little band of troopers, 
his brother Count Henry, and Duke Christopher of 
the Palatine, taking part in the charge. It was the 
last of them all. They went down together and 
were never seen more. Such was the fate of one of 
the bravest and most capable of the soldiers of the 
Netherlands. 

We must return now to the main subject of this 
chapter, the story of the siege of Leyden. It had 
continued nearly five months when, on the 21st of 
March, 1574, the besiegers were withdrawn to meet 
the invading army of Louis of Nassau. Here was a 
splendid opportunity for the citizens to revictual 
their city and add to its strength and this the Prince 
advised them to do, but his advice was not taken. 
They apparently depended on victory by Count 
Louis. What they found was a new army, eight 
thousand strong, of Germans and Walloons, which 
took post round the city on May 26, a second siege 
being thus begun. 



LEYDEN SAVED BY THE SEA 153 

It was a handsome city that was thus environed, 
one lying in the midst of fruitful pastures and 
fringed by smiling villages, gardens and orchards. 
It stood on land reclaimed from the sea, the branch 
of the Ehine on which it was built being divided 
into a multitude of canals which ran through every 
part of the city. They were shaded by lime-trees, 
poplars and willows and crossed by one hundred and 
forty-five bridges. On an elevation in the center 
of the city stood a ruined tower of unknown origin, 
many believing that it dated back to the Koman 
times. From its summit a landscape of wide extent 
was visible, with the spires of many towns on the 
horizon. 

Within this city, closely invested and surrounded 
by redoubts, there were no troops except a small 
corps of ^^ freebooters '^ and five companies of t^rgher 
guards. Aside from these there were only the citi- 
zens to depend on, with such aid as William the 
Silent might be able to give them from without. 
He had his headquarters at Delft and Eotterdam 
and closely watched the invading force, ready to 
take advantage of any opportunity. Acting on his 
advice the citizens took an account of their food 
supply, and by the end of June the people were put 
on a strict allowance. Half a pound of meat and 
half a pound of bread formed the rations for a fidl- 
grown man, women and children receiving smaller 
amounts. 

Between Eotterdam and Delft, cities held by the 
Prince, was a strong fortress, the Polderwaert, which 
gave him control of a space watered on its two sides 
by the Yssel and the Meuse. This fort was attacked 



154 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

by the Spaniards on June 29, but they were beaten 
off with several hundred loss. The Prince thus held 
a position that would enable him to open the dykes 
and admit the ocean waters. There were not only 
the dykes on the Yssel and Meuse, but also the great 
sluices at Eotterdam and other cities under his con- 
trol. To open them would be ruinous to the harvests 
and villages of the neighboring region, but to save 
Leyden was worth the loss. ^^ Better a drowned land 
than a lost land," was the patriotic slogan. 

Before taking this decisive action, however, he 
made needful preparations. It was just to repay the 
farmers for their losses, in a measure at least, and 
for this purpose bonds were issued, payable at long 
date. A monthly allowance of forty-five guilders 
was also voted by the States, and many patriotic 
ladies gave plate, jewelry and rich furniture to 
swell the fund for the relief of the farmers. 

On July 30, Valdez, the Spanish commander, 
offered ample terms of pardon to the citizens, if they 
would surrender. But they had had experience of 
Spanish clemency and chose possible starvation in 
preference. What the Prince was doing they did not 
know, but preferred to rely on his judgment and 
their own valor rather than on a Spanish offer of 
pardon. 

On August 3 the Prince began his work, superin- 
tending the opening of sixteen breaches in the Yssel 
dykes. The gates at Schiedam and Rotterdam were 
also opened and the ocean waters poured rapidly in. 
While the inflowing flood was deepening, provisions 
were collected and a considerable number of vessels 
of various sizes were got ready at the neighboring 



LEYDEN SAVED BY THE SEA 155 

ports. These were intended to sail in over the 
drowned lands to the beleaguered city. 

Meanwhile the people of Leyden were fast ap- 
proaching the starvation point. Their bread was gone, 
and they had but a small provision of malt cake, the 
only substitute. They received a letter from the 
Prince by pigeon post, on August 12, assuring them 
of speedy relief, and on the 21st sent him a reply 
in the same manner, saying that they had now held 
out two months with food and another month with- 
out food, their malt cake would last four days more, 
and if not soon helped human strength would be 
exhausted. On the same day they received a letter 
from without stating that the dykes had been cut and 
the water was pouring in. It said nothing of another 
fact, that the Prince was then in bed with a violent 
fever. Knowledge of this would have seriously dis- 
couraged them. 

The news regarding the dykes was received in the 
city with music and other evidences of joy, while 
the fact that water soon began to flow in the vicinity 
of Leyden greatly disturbed the besiegers. They 
were ignorant of the breaking of the dykes, but 
when the water reached the depth of ten inches 
beyond the immediate dykes, they began to realize 
their peril. 

In this state of affairs the illness of the Prince 
was unfortunate, the work of relief slackening while 
he lay tossing in bed with a burning fever. It was 
late in August before he began to mend and became 
again able to take vigorous hold of the relief opera- 
tions. On the 1st of September an important rein- 
forcement reached Eotterdam, in the shape of a num- 



156 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

ber of vessels from Zealand manned by eight him- 
dred veteran sailors. These were the wildest of the 
" Beggars of the Sea/' scarred and hacked in many 
a fierce combat, fierce in aspect, men known never 
to give or take quarter, but sworn to mortal combat 
with their Spanish foes. In their caps they wore 
crescents, with the inscription, "Eather Turkish 
than Popish,'' and were renowned alike for naval skill 
and ferocity. 

These, with the vessels already in port, numbered 
about two hundred in all, were generally provided 
with ten pieces of cannon each, and carried from 
ten to eighteen oars, their crews numbering in all 
over twenty-five hundred skilled mariners. This flo- 
tilla made its -vay with ease over the flooded land 
to a point known as the Land-scheiding, a strong 
dyke within five miles of Leyden, but here its prog- 
ress was stayed. 

The city had been well guarded against its an- 
cient enemy, the ocean, there being a series of dykes, 
one within another, to prevent possible overflow. 
Between the Land-scheiding and Leyden were several 
of those ramparts, each aiding to keep out the water 
from the level land within, and each now a bulwark 
against the fleet. 

Under orders from the Prince the dyke of the 
Land-scheiding, still a foot and a half above the 
water level, was attacked and taken on the night of 
September 10, the few Spaniards upon it being easily 
driven off. It was a case of fatal carelessness on 
the part of Valdez, the Spanish commander, who 
now rushed forward a considerable force to retake 
the lost dyke. He failed in this, his men being driven 



LEYDEN SAVED BY THE SEA 157 

back, leaving hundreds of dead and wounded on the 
field. 

The victors lost no time in cutting several deep 
gaps through the dyke, the waters poured through in 
a flood, and on them rode the fleet. All on board 
had now high hopes of a speedy voyage to Leyden, 
but it was soon found that there was another barrier 
to be passed, the Green-way dyke, a mile inland, 
which rose a foot above the flood. 

Fortunately for the invaders, this also had been 
left unguarded and Admiral Boisot at once took pos- 
session of it, cutting through it in many places, and 
carrying his fleet in triumph through the gaps. Now 
Leyden surely would be reached. So they vainly 
hoped, but disappointment again impended. Be- 
tween their position and the city lay a large body of 
water, the Freshwater Lake, reached by a deep canal, 
which was strongly held by the enemy. The ad- 
vancing water, spreading out over a broad space, 
was too shallow to lift the ships, and nothing 
remained but to try and force a passage through this 
canal. 

Boisot made a vigorous effort to do this, but found 
it too strongly guarded, and was forced back almost 
in despair. The waters had ceased to rise, a strong 
easterly wind blowing which kept back the inflow- 
ing flood. Thus matters stood for a few days. Then, 
on the 18th, the wind shifted and for a few days a 
fierce gale blew from the northwest, the waters rap- 
idly rising. On the second day the fleet was afloat 
again, it being piloted by some villagers, who took 
it around the canal to a low dyke, between two vil- 
lages, both occupied by Spaniards in force. 



158 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

On seeing a fleet coming upon them overland and 
feeling the waters rising under their feet, the gar- 
risons of these places fled in a panic, leaving this 
new barrier in the hands of the enemy. The two 
villages were set on fire and their rising flames, seen 
at Leyden, filled the people with new hope. 

Thus barrier after barrier had been passed, but 
still the city lay beyond reach, A new barrier, the 
Kirkway, within two miles of the city walls, was 
reached, and before it could be passed the wind again 
shifted, the waters fell, and for day after day the 
fieet lay motionless. At this interval the Prince of 
Orange, fully recovered from his illness, came on 
board, his presence filling the despondent sailors 
with joy and hope. He made a survey of the ground, 
ordered the immediate destruction of this last bar- 
rier, and, after a long conference with Admiral 
Boisot, returned to Delft. 

Meanwhile the burghers of Leyden had reached a 
state of utter despair. Their food had almost wholly 
disappeared, so much so that even the rats of the 
sewers were regarded as luxuries. A few cows had 
been kept, for the sake of their milk, but these were 
now killed, day by day, and the meat distributed 
in minute portions. Even their hides, chopped and 
boiled, were eagerly eaten. People were dying daily 
in multitudes, some from starvation, some from a 
disease called the plague, the outcome of hardships 
and privation. Yet still in vain they waited for 
the wind to change and the waters to rise. And 
still the vanes pointed to the west, spelling despair. 

At length, on the night of October 1 and 2, the 
prayed-f or change came. A violent gale blew in from 



LEYDEN &AVED BY THE SEA 159 

the northwest, shifting after a few hours, with equal 
violence, to the southwest. In rushed the ocean 
waters, until the fleet, instead of nine inches, had 
more than two feet of water beneath its keels. In 
over the dyke passed the triumphant ships, being 
rowed steadily towards Leyden's walls by the shout- 
ing and singing mariners. 

Yet difficulties still remained. The Spaniards 
had a number of vessels and a fierce midnight battle 
ensued. These ships sunk, the fleet went on. There 
were two forts in their way, Zoeterwolde and Lam- 
man. From the first of these the Spaniards fled in 
dismay as the fleet approached and the waters deep- 
ened, hundreds of them being overtaken and slain 
by the wild Zealanders in their flight. 

This fort passed, Lamman came next. This was 
strongly garrisoned and bristled with artillery, and 
even the daring Boisot despaired when he saw the 
obstacle in his path. He determined, however, to 
attack it the next morning, while within the city 
preparations were being made for a sortie against 
this final stronghold. 

That night what might have proved the final dis- 
aster for the beleaguered city took place. A large 
part of the city wall, undermined by the waters, 
fell with a loud crash. At the same time a long 
procession of lights was seen issuing from the fort. 
Were the Spanish soldiers making their way into 
the defenceless city? 

When day dawned every eye was fixed on the fort. 
On its rampart stood a boy waving his hat. In the 
water was a man, wading breast-deep toward the 
fleet. Soon the truth was revealed, the Spaniards, 



160 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

stricken with panic, had deserted the forts. The 
lights seen were those of the lanterns they had borne 
in their flight. They had thus retreated at the very 
moment when the fallen wall, unknown to them, 
opened the city to their arms. The last obstacle was 
removed. The enemy was in full flight. Leyden was 
saved. On the morning of October 3 the vessels 
triumphantly swept into the famine-stricken city, 
amid shouts of joy and prayers of relief. 

As the vessels passed through the many canals 
within the walls, bread was freely thrown from the 
decks among the starving crowd that lined the banks, 
and was seized and devoured so greedily that many 
choked to death, while inordinate eating made others 
ill. But these were exceptional cases and the supply 
was soon distributed more judiciously. 

Just in time was the city saved. The next day 
the wind once more shifted, a tempest blowing from 
the northeast. This seemed to the citizens as sent 
by Providence to drive back the waters that had 
done their work. So effective was the gale that in a 
few days the waters were blown back from off the 
drowned plain and the work of rebuilding the dykes 
began. 

Everjrfching was done to restore the city to its nor- 
mal condition. To repay the citizens for their heroic 
defence the Prince granted them a ten days' annual 
fair, without tolls and taxes. And in honor of their 
remarkable delivery it was resolved to establish a 
university within the city. 

On the 5th of February, 1575, Leyaen, lately the 
abode of famine and pestilence, crowned itself with 
flowers, in honor of the consecration of its memorial 



LEYDEN SAVED BY THE SEA 161 

university. The public demonstration was a grand 
procession, headed by a military escort, beyond which 
came a triumphal chariot, its occupant, a woman in 
snow-white garments, representing the Holy Gospel. 
Other representations were the Four Evangelists, 
Justice, Medicine, Minerva, Aristotle, Plato, Cicero, 
Virgil and many other allegorical and classical 
figures. On the main canal floated a triumphal 
barge, in which sat Apollo, attended by the Nine 
Muses. The affair ended with an eloquent dedication 
speech and a splendid banquet. Thus did Leyden 
celebrate its escape from famine and slaughter. 



11 



CHAPTER XIX 

HOW THE PRINCE BECAME DICTATOR 

By the year 1574 the provinces of Holland and 
Zealand had in great measure won their freedom 
from Spanish rule and were under the dominion of 
William the Silent, Prince of Orange. In Holland 
only Amsterdam and Haarlem were held by the 
Spanish Governor-General, and these states did 
not hesitate to administer a bitter pill to the auto- 
cratic King. They gave Philip plainly to under- 
stand that they would yield to his dominion only on 
the terms that the Spaniards must go and the exiles 
come back, the Inquisition be abolished and the 
ancient privileges restored, the Roman Catholic relig- 
ion renounce its supremacy and the Reformed relig- 
ion be allowed full freedom. 

A position like this seemed to be to throw the 
gage of revolt at the King's feet. As yet the Prince 
had professed to hold for the King, conducting the 
rebellion against his Governor-General in his name 
and as his stadtholder. This convenient fiction gave 
him great authority in the revolted provinces of 
Holland and Zealand. In this he was sustained 
by the provinces, the council of which proposed to 
make him unlimited dictator. They also were liberal 
in their appropriations, now raising two hundred 
and ten thousand florins monthly, while Holland had 
never paid the Duke of Alva more than two hundred 
and seventy-one ihousand florins yearly. This was 
162 



HOW PRINCE BECAME DICTATOR 163 

the difference between paying by force to a tyrant 
and by goodwill to a chosen ruler. 

In 1574 a provincial assembly conferred on the 
Prince full control of all ships of war and unlimited 
power over the domains, and agreed that taxes should 
be paid and garrisons provided as the Prince and his 
council should ordain. But the estates must be con- 
vened and consulted upon all important matters, 
such as the appointment of supreme court judges and 
other high offices. When, however, the Prince de- 
manded an allowance of forty-five thousand florins 
monthly for army and other expenses the estates 
demurred. This lack of liberality was bitterly de- 
nounced by the Prince, who refused to accept the 
government on any such niggardly terms. His 
vehemence was effective, and without further delib- 
eration the demand was granted and the Prince 
assumed the government. That he had justly won 
it by his years of active effort all admitted, and he 
was looked upon with such regard that the affec- 
tionate title of " Father William " was that by which 
he became commonly knovm. 

Peace between the people and the King was felt 
to be very desirable, and was warmly approved by 
the Prince. The King, who found the war a costly 
and non-productive enterprise, was equally willing to 
settle their differences and a convention for the con- 
sideration of terms of peace met at Breda, March 3, 
1575. 

Here the estates demanded that all foreign troops 
should leave the country and that the ancient states- 
general should be restored. On the other hand, the 
royal commissioners made the preposterous demand 



164 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

that all the cities, fortresses, and castles, the artillery 
and war vessels, should be delivered to the King, 
and the Eoman Catholic worship should rule ex- 
clusively throughout the Netherlands. As for mem- 
bers of the Eeformed faiths, they would be permitted 
to convert their property into cash within a certain 
limit of time and to leave the country. 

As may well be imagined, no agreement could be 
made on terms like these, and the negotiations utterly^ 
failed. One result was a closer union between Hol- 
land and Zealand, articles of union being drawn up 
wherein the Prince was given absolute power in all 
matters having to do with the defence of the country. 
He was to maintain the law, in the King's name, as 
Count of Holland, to protect the service of the Ee- 
formed religion, and to suppress the exercise of the 
Roman religion, though no search should be made 
into the creed of any person. The Prince desired 
that these articles of union should be submitted to 
the voice of the people, but this was too democratic 
a project for the aristocratic estates and they refused 
to accept it. 

It was a small nationality that was thus estab- 
lished, one that covered a minute space on the map of 
Europe. Holland — the province to which this name 
was then confined — was little more than a narrow 
sand bank, a hook of half -submerged earth, one hun- 
dred and twenty miles in length and varying from 
four to forty miles in breadth. And not all of even 
this was under William's control. North and South 
Holland being cut apart by the loss of Haarlem, 
while Amsterdam was also held for the King. South 
of Holland lay the small archipelago of Zealand, 690 



HOW PRINCE BECAME DICTATOR 165 

square miles in extent and rising little above the level 
of the sea. 

Such was the small dominion for which one man, 
the Prince of Orange, did battle for nine years with 
the most powerful monarch in Europe, the " Domi- 
nator of Asia, Africa and America,^' and lord of the 
fairest realms of Europe, and won its independence 
at last. It is not surprising that the people regarded 
him lovingly as their '^ Father William.'^ 

Only at one time did he despair. This was when 
Zealand had been invaded, one of its towns taken, 
and its capital besieged, when money was almost im- 
possible to obtain, when Germany, France and Eng- 
land alike refused to extend a helping hand to the 
sinking country. 

There seemed then only one way to rescue Holland 
and Zealand from the hold of Spain, and that was to 
desert the country and seek a home in the N'ew 
World beyond the seas. He seriously contemplated 
this, proposing to collect all the vessels in the Nether- 
lands, embark on them all the people and the mov- 
able properly of the two provinces, and found a 
new realm abroad. But before leaving the windmills 
were to be burned, the dykes broken, the sluices 
opened, the sea admitted on every side, and the 
country restored to the ocean from which it came. 

This scheme was strongly entertained. What 
checked its fulfilment was the sudden death of 
Eequesens, the Governor-General, a mutiny that 
broke out among the troops in Haarlem, and other 
circumstances that led to new hopes of the inde- 
pendence of the Netherlands. 



CHAPTEE XX 

HOW AN AEMY WADED TO VICTORY 

Zealand is properly a " sea-land/' being in large 
part made up of islands, while most of its area has 
been stolen from the sen. Its polders, or drained 
districts, number about 400 in all, regions of rich 
clay from which dykes hold back the ocean waves. 
On Walcheren, its principal island, is the seaport of 
Flushing, and Middleburg, the provincial capital, 
the capture of which places from the Spaniards has 
already been described. The Zealanders, to-day only a 
little over 200,000 in number, have long been famous 
as seamen, and formed the fiercest and ablest of the 
" Beggars of the Sea,^^ a title they were proud to bear. 

This island province was the scene of events of 
much importance in the Spanish programme of con- 
quest. Among these the most interesting was an 
expedition for the purpose of gaining a footing on 
the seaboard, Zealand being selected as the best 
locality. Tholen, the island nearest the coast, 
was already held by the Spanish. Two leagues out- 
ward from this lay Duiveland, or the Island of Doves. 
At a less distance farther out was the island of 
Schouwen, fronting on the ocean, and containing a 
fortified city, Zierickzee. It was the latter island 
that Eequesens, the Governor-General, wished espe- 
cially to hold and against which, in September, 1575, 
he launched the expedition spoken of. This consisted 
of three thousand Spanish infantry, with a picked 
corps of two hundred sappers and miners, and four 
hundred mounted troopers. A fleet of boats and 
166 



HOW AN ARMY WADED TO VICTORY 167 

light vessels was also collected at Antwerp, to aid in 
the enterprise. It was known that a tongue of land, 
shallow enough to be waded at ebb-tide, extended 
from Tholen to Duiveland, and that the water chan- 
nel between the latter island and Schouwen was not 
as deep and only half as wide. 

But preparations for this work could not be made 
in secret. Zealanders quickly learned of the project 
in view, and the surrounding waters swarmed with 
their vessels, manned by men notable for skill and 
daring. The enterprise had been made possible only 
through the aid of traitors from Zealand, who told 
Eequesens of the shallow flats between the islands, 
and offered to act as guides. The expedition was 
divided into two portions, one to man the boats, the 
other, with the two hundred pioneers, to wade across 
the shallow sea channel. 

It was a wild night, that of September 27, 1575, 
when this attempt to conquer sea and land was 
made. Incessant lightning flashed through the 
clouds, revealing the path to be traversed, each flash 
followed by deep gloom. It was midnight when 
Don Osoria d'Ulloa, the Spanish leader, stripped 
and followed the traitor guides into the dark waters. 
Next came the main body of soldiers, and after them 
the sappers and miners, followed by a rear guard, 
each man carrying a pair of shoes, two pounds of 
powder, and three days' rations in a canvas bag 
hung from his neck. 

It was an extraordinary enterprise, the success of 
which was highly doubtful. Two by two went the 
pioneers, feeling their way cautiously, and soon 
nearly up to their necks in the water. Narrow was 



168 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

the path they followed. A misstep to right or left 
would plunge them into deep waters and such was 
the fate of many of the daring waders. 

As they went on, the moon from time to time 
shone through the broken storm clouds. What it 
showed was not reassuring to the adventurers. Ves- 
sels, manned by stalwart Zealanders, were drawn 
up as close to the flat as possible, and from these artil- 
lery and musketry played continually on the waders. 
But the bodies of the soldiers were largely protected 
by the water and the fitful lightning rendered aim 
difficult, so that little loss came from this fire. 

The Zealanders did not confine their attack to 
firearms. They used harpoons, boat-hooks, heavy 
flails and other weapons, by whose aid many of the 
Spaniards were killed. The latter did not bear this 
attack helplessly, but at times halted to pour a 
volley into the hostile ranks. Thus went on this 
strange combat, at midnight hour, in the midst of 
the sea, with only the lightning flash and occasionally 
gleams from the moon to light up the field of strife. 

The night wore on; step by step the Spaniards 
advanced. Many were lost, and their progress was 
so slow that day had dawned before the opposite shore 
was reached and the main body, composed of Span- 
iards, Germans, and Walloons, found dry land be- 
neath their feet. The sappers, who came next, were 
less fortunate, the tide rising before they could reach 
the shore and sweeping nearly all of them away. The 
rear-guard, finding the tide rising, were lucky enough 
to retrace their steps. 

Duiveland was guarded by ten companies of 
French, Scotch and English auxiliaries, who 



HOW AN ARMY WADED TO VICTORY 169 

awaited the coming foe. But by accident or treason 
their leader was killed just as the Spaniards landed 
and a panic followed, the soldiers, terrified by this 
event and the sudden appearance of the Spaniards 
from the sea, fleeing in all directions, some swimming 
to the Zealand ships, some taking refuge in the forts. 
These were soon taken by the Spaniards and Duive- 
land remained in their hands. 

The remaining water journey was much shorter 
and more easily made, the sea here being so encum- 
bered with rushes and briars that the Zealand vessels 
were unable to traverse the channel. Thus, though 
difficult to wade, it was soon crossed and the Span- 
iards were not long in reaching their final goal, the 
island of Schouwen. Five companies of troops had 
been placed here to prevent a landing, but these fled 
in the same cowardly manner as those on Duiveland, 
and the invaders landed without resistance, the panic- 
stricken defenders taking refuge in Zierickzee. 

The news of the landing on Duiveland had been 
signalled to the Spanish fleet, and this at once 
attacked and captured the town of Brouwershaven, 
on the north side of Schouwen. Bommenede, an- 
other town, held out till October 25, when it was 
taken by storm and its people slaughtered, not twenty 
being left alive. Siege was also laid to Zierickzee, the 
capital, but this was to make a more stubborn defence. 

It held out in fact until June, 1576, a vigorous 
effort to relieve it being made on the 25th of May. 
This was done by the brave Zealander, Admiral 
Boisot, who had commanded the fleet in the memora- 
ble relief of Leyden. The present enterprise proved 
less successful. The shallow harbor of Zierickzee had 



170 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

been surrounded by the Spanish commander with 
chains, hulks, and a submerged dyke, against which 
the brave Boisot drove his ship, the Bed Lion, 
He did not succeed in breaking through and his ship 
became entangled, being left aground when the tide 
ebbed. The remaining vessels had been driven oS 
by the Spanish fire. When morning dawned cap- 
tivity seemed certain for the brave Boisot and his 
crew. Eather than be taken he, with three hundred 
of his men, sprang overboard. Some of them escaped, 
but the gallant admiral, after swimming all day, 
kept up by a broken spar, at last sank in the waves. 
Thus died Louis Boisot, one of the most enterprising 
of the fighters of the [N'etherlands. 

It was impossible for the city to hold out much 
longer and on June 21, at the suggestion of the 
Prince of Orange, it agreed to surrender if honor- 
able terms were granted. Mondragon, the Spanish 
leader, whose soldiers were suffering and ready to 
break into mutiny, readily agreed, the defenders 
being allowed to leave the place with their arms and 
personal baggage, while the citizens were permitted 
to retain their privileges and charters on payment 
of 200,000 guilders. It was the one instance in this 
war in which no sacking and burning took place. 

Half the commutation money was to be paid in 
cash, but no such amount of cash, was to be found in 
the town. Mint masters were at once appointed by 
the magistrates and took their seats in the Hotel de 
Yille. To these the people brought their silver 
spoons and dishes, which were rapidly melted and 
converted into silver coins, and in this interesting 
way was the city of Zierickzee ransomed. 



CHAPTEE XXI 

THE MUTINY AND THE SPANISH FURY 

Savage and cruel as the Spanish soldiers had so 
often proved themselves, as skilled and daring 
fighters they were not to be surpassed. They amply 
earned the wages for which they had enlisted, but 
nearly all the pay they obtained came from the cities 
they took and plundered. For nine long years these 
few thousand of Spaniards had fought for Philip II. 
and his viceroys in the INTetherlands with little pay 
beyond that of occasional plunder. More than once 
they had rebelled against this treatment, and finally 
their indignation rose to the point of a general 
mutiny. 

The first display of this was on the island of 
Schouwen, recently taken by the Spaniards. Those 
who had dared sea and land for the King of Spain 
felt that they had won the right of reward for their 
efforts. If the King would not or could not pay 
them, then they would levy on the Netherlands, 
which he claimed as part of his estate. He must give 
them the money they had earned or give them a city 
and let them collect pay for themselves in their 
customary way. 

By the 15th of July, 1576, the mutiny had be- 
come general on the island, the mutineers holding 
their officers captive in their quarters at Zierickzee, 
while they surrounded the house of Mondragon, their 
leader, furiously demanding their pay. Soon after- 

171 



172 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

wards, having swept Schouwen bare of all eatables, 
they swarmed back from Zealand into Brabant, 
devouring all before them. 

Choosing for themselves an Eletto, or leader, they 
wandered from place to place, and especially threat- 
ened Brussels, which viewed their movements with 
dismay. Every attempt to control them, all talk of 
their tarnishing the glory they had won, were met 
with sneers. They had no use for glory, they said. 
It could not be put into their pockets or their 
stomachs. Give them money or give them a city — 
these were their ultimate terms. They finally 
swooped down like a flock of vultures on the city of 
Alost, in Flanders, butchered all who opposed them 
and held this strong place as their capital, putting 
under contribution all the surrounding country. 

By this time an intense excitement prevailed in 
Brussels, the capital. The whole population rose in 
arms to defend their city, demanding that the muti- 
neers should be denounced as outlaws. This was 
done on July 26, they being proclaimed, in the name 
of the King of Spain, as traitors and outlaws, to be 
slain wherever met, to be refused bread, water, or 
fire, and to be assailed in every city in which they 
should appear. 

But to attempt this was like the effort of the mice 
to bell the cat. This organized body of veterans, 
two or three thousand in number, were well able to 
defy such proclamations. The mutiny was not con- 
fined to them. It rapidly spread until, by the first 
of September, it embraced all the Spanish army in 
the Netherlands, from generals to privates, and in- 
cluded the most important of the German auxiliaries. 



MUTINY AND SPANISH FURY 173 

Spain had raised a demon that could not easily be laid. 

Sancho d'Avila, who held the citadel of Antwerp, 
was in full sympathy with the mutineers, and every 
important city in the country, with the exception of 
Brussels, was at the mercy of a mutinous garrison. 
An outbreak was inevitable, and the first appearance 
might be expected at Maestricht, which, aided by 
a loyal German garrison, rose against the Spanish 
and drove them out. It was a temporary success, to 
be followed by a massacre. Near by was the town 
of Weick, in which few men remained, but which 
had many women left. Each soldier was bidden to 
seize a woman and, holding her before him, to ad- 
vance across the bridge leading into Maestricht. 
This unmanly stratagem succeeded. The burghers 
hesitated to fire upon their own women and the city 
was soon taken. The plundering, butchering and 
ravishing that followed were • so awful that, as a 
historian says, " Those who escaped the fight had 
reason to think themselves less fortunate than those 
who had died with arms in their hands."" 

But this merely whetted the appetite of the mur- 
derers. Within their reach, its citadel held by a 
mutinous garrison, lay the great city of Ajitwerp, 
at that day one of the richest in Europe, a great 
magazine of gold and silver, precious stones and 
costly goods of every description. This splendid city 
was dominated by a castle of immense strength, one 
built to curb, not to protect, the inhabitants. Its 
castellan, Sancho d'Avila, was looked upon as the 
chief of the mutiny, he being in friendly compact 
with the mutineers at Alost, and with bands of 
covetous brigands in other cities. 



174 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

Fearing an attack on this rich city a large force of 
Walloons and Germans was sent from Brussels to its 
defence, reaching it on the 2d of November. Cham- 
pagny, the governor of the city, a sincere Catholic 
but a bitter foe of the Spaniards, admitted them 
after some hesitation, he having little faith in the 
loyalty of the Germans. There were some of these 
in the town already and he had reason to doubt their 
trustworthiness. 

The Marquis de Havre, commander of this new 
force, at once called a council of war, at which he 
produced some intercepted letters of Avila, written 
to the leaders of the meeting, and providing for con- 
centration of all the Spanish forces in the Antwerp 
citadel. The peril was evidently imminent and 
active measures of defence were needed. 

It was decided to erect a bulwark between the castle 
and the adjoining part of the city, and so many were 
the volunteers for this work that within an hour ten 
or twelve thousand persons, including large num- 
bers of women, had volunteered, and a ditch and 
breastwork, extending from the gate of the Beguins 
to the street of the Abbey St. Michael, was soon in 
rapid progress. The rampart was strengthened with 
bales of merchandise, casks of earth, overturned 
wagons, and other bulky objects piled together, it 
being sixteen feet high in some places, in others no 
more than six. 

Night fell before the work was done and it was 
continued under the rays of the moon. But the 
cannon from the citadel had long been playing upon 
the workers, making their task very dangerous. The 
result was that the barricade was left very weak at 



MUTINY AND SPANISH FURY 175 

many points, the entrance to the important street of 
the Beguins being defended by a single overturned 
wagon. The soldiers from Brussels also had failed 
to bring any artillery, so that the means of defence 
were very poor. Champagny did all that lay in his 
power, but he felt himself sadly hampered by his lack 
of means of defence and the doubtful loyalty of the 
men under his command. 

At daybreak a new council was held. It proved 
that few of Champagny's directions had been obeyed 
and the city was left almost defenceless. A thick 
mist hung over the city, but through its veil bodies 
of men could be seen marching into the citadel and 
the tramp of cavalry could be heard. Champagny 
had ordered that detachments of troops should be 
posted outside the city to cut off such detachments 
of newcomers, but no one had attended to this and 
the approaches to the castle were left open. Quick 
and decisive action was now necessary if the city 
were to be saved. On the line opposite the citadel 
Havre posted his Walloons and a few companies of 
Germans. The bulk of the Germans were stationed 
at important points in the center of the city, while 
along the improvised rampart six thousand men were 
posted. At an early hour Champagny rode through 
the streets, calling on the burghers to arm and assem- 
ble at leading points. Then he rode to the ramparts, 
where some fighting was already going on. 

At ten o'clock what appeared to be a moving wood 
was seen approaching the citadel. It was the body 
of mutineers from Alost, nearly three thousand in 
number, wearing green branches in their helmets. 
They had marched twenty-four miles since three 



176 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

o'clock that morning. They rushed into the citadel, 
where Avila ordered food for them. This they re- 
fused, calling but for a draught of wine. They would 
dine in Paradise, they said, or sup in Antwerp. 

At an hour before noon the mutineers marched 
from the citadel and the assault began. Three thou- 
sand men were led to the street of St. Michael, the 
remaining Spaniards and the Germans being directed 
to follow that of St. George. The advance could not 
rightly be called an assault; it was rather an ava- 
lanche. The Walloons broke and fled without a shot. 
The rampart quickly gave way before the impetuous 
rush. Champagny, hastily gathering a small force of 
Germans, led them to the rescue. They fought well, 
but the flight of the Walloons could not be checked. 
Champagny stormed among them, seized a banner 
from a flying ensign, and called on them to make 
a stand against the foe. It was a hopeless effort ; they 
continued to fly in utter disarray. 

Champagny now galloped through street aHer 
street, calling upon the burghers to rise in defence of 
their homes. This appeal was more effective. Out 
they came in numbers, fought with despairing energy, 
but fought hopelessly. What could this broken, 
disorganized mass of citizens do against a trained 
and disciplined army? 

Of the Germans in the city, one body deserted 
instantly to the invaders. Another force held their 
ground faithfully, and fought, with the citizens who 
aided them, till they were all cut down. Cham- 
pagny's next effort was to rally the cavalry, but this 
was equally in vain. The panic had seized them, and 
few of them escaped from the onrush of the Span- 



MUTINY AND SPANISH FURY 177 

ish horse. There was a confused mass of fugitives 
and conquerors, struggling, striking, dying, many 
falling before the swords of the Spaniards, a larger 
number being driven into the waters of the Scheldt. 

As a final effort Champagny tried to make a stand 
in the New-town and fortify the palace of the Hausa. 
But he found none to aid him, and, finally, finding 
that all was lost, he succeeded in escaping to the fleet 
of the Prince of Orange in the river, having done 
all that it was possible for one man to do. 

Through the streets now rushed the triumphant 
Spaniards, with wild cries of '^ St. James ! Spain ! 
blood ! flesh ! fire ! sack ! '^ and the like hideous cries, 
which sent a shudder of horror through the whole 
defenceless city. Here and there at points the battle 
still continued. Multitudes of armed men fought 
from the buildings, making every house a fortress. 
From every balcony and window a hot fire was 
poured, and this was kept up until the assailants set 
the houses on fire and a conflagration began that 
spread rapidly through street after street. In the 
street back of the Town-house the final struggle took 
place. The Margrave, the burgomaster, and a host 
of soldiers, senators, and citizens were cut down, 
those who survived being driven into the drowning 
waters of the Scheldt. Here ended the conflict, in 
which — during that and the two following days — 
eight thousand human beings were slaughtered. 

Dreadful was the fate of this great city, with thou- 
sands of armed and brutal savages thus let loose on 
its helpless population. Resistance was at an end 
and the work of plunder began. It was not blood- 
thirst, but gold-thirst, that lay at the bottom of this 
12 



178 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

work of slaughter. It was the city's wealth the sol- 
diers craved, and, as we are told, " For gold, infanta 
were dashed out of existence in their mothers' arms ; 
parents were tortured in their children's presence; 
brides were scourged to death before their husbands' 
eyes." 

The fire kindled by the invaders had spread 
through the wealthiest portion of the city and de- 
stroyed property of immense value, the flames con- 
suming as much as the raiders obtained. Yet there 
was abundance left, gold, silver and jewelry, velvets, 
satins, brocades, laces, and other valuable spoil. The 
storehouses of the merchants were at first broken into, 
their strong boxes opened, and their precious con- 
tents appropriated. This done, the private dwell- 
ings of the people were entered and their cash, plate 
and jewelry sought. 

Much of this had been hidden, and torture was 
freely applied to force the owners to yield their 
valuables. If not freely given up, the proprietors 
were killed or scourged to punish them for their 
poverty or secrecy. Tales of horrible inhumanity 
are told. One is of a gentlewoman who was hanged 
repeatedly, being cut down and questioned at in- 
tervals. Finally, nothing being produced, the tor- 
turers left her hanging and set out for new fields. 
She was cut down by a servant and her life saved, 
but her mind was overturned, and the remainder of 
her life was spent in wandering crazily about her 
house and digging in the garden for the buried treas- 
ure which the torturers had vainly sought. 

For two days more this work of ravage, torture, 
and murder went on, the streets filled with dead 



MUTINY AND SPANISH FURY 179 

bodies, the most splendid part of the city a scene 
of blackened ruins, the search for gold followed by 
an orgy of riot, gaming, rape, with all the atrocities 
which the unbridled soldiery of that epoch could 
commit. 

Many deeds of ravage and terror had been com- 
mitted in the Netherlands, but this was the worst of 
them all. It became known as the ^^ Spanish Fury,^^ 
and by that name it has descended in history. No 
class of people was free. Merchants and citizens, for- 
eigners and natives, rich and poor, churchmen and 
laity alike were plundered. Some five thousand 
soldiers were engaged in the work, and the treasure 
obtained amounted far into the millions. 

Much of this spoil was squandered in gambling 
and other ways. The more prudent had their gold 
and silver melted and converted into sword-hilts, 
scabbards, and even whole suits of armor, darkened 
externally so as to make it appear as if made of iron. 
As for the dead, they numbered many more than fell 
in Paris during the St. Bartholomew massacre. Yet 
of the murdering horde less than two hundred were 
killed. As news of the terrible outrage spread 
through the country, indignation everywhere ap- 
peared, the hostility to Spanish rule augmented, and 
it doubtless had a leading sliare in the sentiment that 
led to the removal of the Spanish troops from the 
country during the following year. 

In that year Antwerp was the scene of other events 
that may justly be described here. During the year 
that followed the scene of the " Spanish Fury " the 
power of the Prince of Orange had greatly increased. 
Antwerp was in the hands of his friends, though a 



180 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

hostile garrison held the citadel. Not fully hostile, 
however, for one of its officers, Captain de Bours, 
offered to capture the citadel for the patriotic cause. 

Secretly provided with funds by the merchants, he 
succeeded in winning over the garrison with the 
exception of one company, that remained faithful to 
the castellan. On the 1st of August, 1577, the 
attempt took place and with complete success, the 
whole city soon singing with the outcry, ^^ The Beg- 
gars have the castle ! The Beggars have the castle ! '^ 

There were, however, a large number of German 
soldiers, in the service of the Governor- General, in 
the city, and there was widespread fear that these 
might break out and a new ^^ Fury " sweep through 
the city. Some of them had seized their arms during 
the events of the day and had built a barricade be- 
hind which they awaited the orders of their colonels. 

A consultation of the merchants was at once held 
and a resolution passed to provide money to pay the 
arrears of wages due these soldiers. This was to be 
on condition that they should immediately leave the 
city. When word of this action reached the troops, 
when the merchants appeared with well-filled purses 
ready to pay them, the soldiers eagerly accepted the 
opportunity, swearing to take the lives of their offi- 
cers if they sought to decline this tempting offer. 

The committee, however, was not hasty in paying 
out the gold. There were questions to ask, matters 
to arrange, and time was spent in preliminaries until 
nightfall approached. Suddenly, in the midst of 
these tardy negotiations, sails appeared on the 
Scheldt, and soon a large fleet of war vessels was seen 
sailing before a favoring breeze toward the city. It 



MUTINY AND SPANISH FURY 181 

was a squadron of the Prince's fleet, the admiral of 
which had been apprised of what was in contempla- 
tion. As it came near, flying the banner of the 
patriots, a shot or two fired from the vessels fell 
among the barricades. 

The effect was electric. A wild panic seized the 
soldiers. " The Beggars are coming ! The Beggars 
are coming ! " they cried, and, heedless of the mer- 
chants with their purses, they broke into hasty flight, 
in terror of those wild Zealanders whose prowess 
they well knew. Eight and left they scattered, some 
plunging into the stream, some scurrying along the 
dykes, some hastening over the open fields. Thus 
ludicrously ended the city's dread. In the end the 
Germans all surrendered and the country was freed 
of their presence. 

That was but the beginning of the work of relief. 
The citizens of Antwerp determined to rest no longer 
under the threat of that hostile citadel, but deter- 
mined that it should be torn down on the side toward 
the city. The authorities gave the order, but the 
people did the work. More than ten thousand of 
them lent their aid, by day and night, men and 
women of all ranks, from magistrates to mendicants, 
fair ladies to workmen's wives, each anxious to have 
a hand in the demolition of that murderers' den. So 
many hands made quick work, and the fortress was 
soon laid low in its dangerous portion. 

In it was found hidden a bronze statue of the 
hated Duke of Alva, which once had stood in a cen- 
tral part of the city. On this the people fell with 
wild fury. It was dragged with ropes through the 
streets, and battered with sledge hammers until it 



182 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

had been reduced to a shapeless mass. Portions 
were carried away and preserved as heirlooms of 
hatred. The remainder was melted and cast again 
into cannon, like those from which it had been orig- 
inally formed. 

This razing of the citadel of Antwerp set an ex- 
ample which was followed in other cities. That of 
Ghent was torn down with equal enthusiasm. In 
other cities the same took place, the people rising in 
rage against the fortresses which had dominated 
their municipalities as, a number of years before, they 
had risen against the emblems of Eoman Catholic 
worship. 



CHAPTER XXII 

DON JOHNT OF AUSTRIA AND NETHERLAND UNION 

On the day before the massacre at Antwerp there 
rode into the streets of Luxembourg a foreign cava- 
lier, attended by a Moorish slave and by six men-at- 
arms. The cavalier was a man of princely lineage, but 
the slave was of still higher rank, being none less than 
Don John of Austria, the brother of the Spanish 
King and a soldier of renown, being famous as the 
hero of the great naval victory of Lepanto. Ap- 
pointed by his brother Governor-Greneral of the 
Netherlands, he had chosen this fantastic disguise 
for his journey through Spain and France, and thus 
made his appearance in the !N"etherlands in the guise 
of a slave. 

He was to find a very different state of affairs from 
that found by Alva and Eequesens. The power of 
the Prince of Orange had greatly increased and 
events had just taken place which vastly widened his 
authority. One worthy of mention was the recovery 
of the city of Zierickzee, deserted by its mutinous 
garrison, and, in fact, of the whole of Zealand except 
the island of Tholen. 

More important still was a convention then being 
held at Ghent, having for its object the union of all 
the states of the Netherlands. Before the appear- 
ance of Don John this body of delegates had assem- 
bled at Ghent, its purpose being to arrange a frater- 
nity between the rebel provinces of Holland and 

183 



184 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

Zealand and the fifteen other provinces of the Nether- 
lands. By the middle of October, 1576, this con- 
gress had assembled and earnest deliberations at once 
began. 

The massacre at Antwerp filled the deputies with 
horror and indignation and stirred them to greater 
activity. They received at the same time a letter of 
advice and suggestion from the Prince of Orange, 
written with his customary wisdom and skill and 
exhorting them to union and firmness. At the same 
time he impressed upon them the necessity of 
wariness. They had an artful foe to deal with, he 
said, and it was needful for them to be strictly on 
their guard. 

The treaty, which was signed on the same day that 
the citadel of Ghent was demolished, as already 
stated, contained twenty-five articles. The provinces 
signing agreed that there should be a mutual forgiv- 
ing and forgetting of past events and a faithful 
friendship for the future, and that the Spaniards 
should be expelled from the Netherlands with as 
little delay as possible. All political prisoners should 
be released without ransom. All confiscations since 
1566 should be null and void and the estates thus 
taken, where possible, be restored to their owners. 
All edicts on the subject of heresy should be sus- 
pended awaiting the action of the States-General. 

These are a few of the articles of this celebrated 
treaty which was signed November 5, 1576, and is 
known in history as the " Pacification of Ghent." 
It was the work of the Prince of Orange in all its 
leading particulars, and did as much for the recog- 
nition of the Protestant faith as could be looked for 



DON JOHN OF AUSTRIA 185 

at that time. This faith had been firmly established 
in two provinces and was secretly tolerated in the 
other fifteen, the Inquisition and infamous edicts 
against heresy were abolished and the whole nation 
was enlisted in the effort to expel the Spanish 
soldiery from its soil. 

The Prince desired that the work of the congress 
should be referred directly to the people for approval. 
This was not formally done, but the treaty, pro- 
claimed in the market place ot each city and village 
throughout the land, was ratified by the voice of the 
people in hymns of triumph, by music, thundering 
of cannon, and the blaze of beacons in every section of 
the country. 

In January, 1577, a second step in the same direc- 
tion, that known as the " Union of Brussels," was 
taken, its purpose being the immediate expulsion of 
the Spanish and the effective establishment of the 
Pacification of Ghent. It also, while maintaining the 
Catholic religion and the King's authority, proposed 
to defend the fatherland in all its rights and privi- 
leges. This, signed at first by a few leading persons, 
was passed from hand to hand through all the prov- 
inces, where it was everywhere signed by the leading 
citizens. Its chief purpose was to convince Don John 
of the united sentiment of the country. 

There was another " Union,'' of later date, which 
must be spoken of here, a memorable one known in 
history as the ^^ Union of Utrecht." It was the work 
of a commission which assembled in that city in 
January, 1579, deputies being present from Holland, 
Zealand, Gelderland, Zutphen, and several other 
provinces. On the 23d of January this body, without 



186 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

waiting for delegates from the remaining provinces, 
agreed upon a treaty containing twenty-six articles. 
Under it the provinces signing agreed to remain 
eternally united, becoming practically a single prov- 
ince, each at the same time retaining its special liber- 
ties, privileges, customs and laws. By virtue of their 
union these provinces further agreed to defend each 
other " with life, goods and blood ^' against all force 
brought against them in the name and behalf of the 
King. They were also to defend each other against 
all foreign powers, provided such defence were con- 
trolled by the ^' generality ^' of the Union. Expenses 
for such purposes were to be assessed upon the prov- 
inces, and no truce or peace was to be concluded and 
no war begun except by the advice and consent of 
all the provinces. 

There were various other provisions based upon 
the same principle of unity and tending to combine 
the provinces into a federal union. Such were the 
elements of a document which became the foundation 
of the subsequent Commonwealth of the United 
Netherlands, a national compact which had its later 
counterpart in the Constitution of the United States. 

To return now to the rule of Don John over these 
defiant provinces, it may be said that it was not an 
amicable one. Furious at the demands of the States- 
General of the provinces, the new Governor-General 
threatened the deputies, but found them no longer 
subservient as of old, but ready to speak their mind 
vigorously. He sought in vain to influence the Prince 
of Orange by secret bribery, but found him stead- 
fast against all such efforts. Finally he yielded to the 
Prince's insistent demands, agreeing to dismiss the 



DON JOHN OF AUSTRIA 187 

soldiers, and to send them by land, as the Prince 
insisted, instead of by sea, as he proposed for pur- 
poses of his own. 

Thus the murderous troops of Spain at length 
took up their line of march from the country, their 
ultimate destination being Lombardy. They de- 
parted in very ill himior, not having been paid for 
their long and arduous service. They were promised 
adequate pay, however, upon their arrival in Lom- 
bardy, and most of them had abundantly paid them- 
selves in the ravage of Antwerp. 

A great multitude gathered to witness the depart- 
ure of this band of official assassins, by whom the 
land had for years been crushed and its people deci- 
mated. The expression of joy at this migration was 
great, though the fact that ten thousand German 
mercenaries, in the King's service, still remained in 
the provinces acted to modify their gratulation. 
That the Spaniards were really being sent from the 
country was also far from sure, and much of the 
feeling of joy was suppressed until their actual 
departure was assured. 

By the end of April, 1577, the departure of the 
Spanish soldiery, who for so long a period had held 
a carnival of slaughter and outrage in the Nether- 
lands, was completed, and on the 1st of May Don 
John made his triumphal entry into Brussels, the 
capital. Not for years had so much holiday mag- 
nificence and festivity been witnessed in that city. 
Less than six months before it had been trembling 
with fear of an inroad of the slaughtering Spanish 
soldiers. Now it was full of brilliant display and 
alight with gayety. 



188 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

The entrance procession consisted of six thousand 
troops, with the free companies of archers and muske- 
teers in their picturesque costumes and a solemn 
array of burghers. Between these bodies came Don 
John, on horseback and wrapped in a long, green 
cloak, the Bishop of Liege and the papal nuncio rid- 
ing beside him. Everywhere on the line of the proces- 
sion rose triumphal arches, while banners waved 
before him on which were depicted scenes from the 
battle of Lepanto and other striking events in his 
career. 

Everything was done to add to the festivity of 
the occasion. Minstrels sang odes, poets recited 
verses of welcome, the rhetorical clubs acted dramatic 
interludes, young virgins crowned the youthful hero 
with laurel. At every window were fair women in 
bright robes, and, as a gallant chronicler says, 
" Softly from those lovely clouds descended the 
gentle rain of flowers." Thus, in a brilliant festival, 
followed by a splendid banquet, the youthful Spanish 
prince made his triumphant entry into his new 
capital as Governor-General of the Netherlands. 

There was another scene of festivity during Don 
John's brief career in the Netherlands which seems 
worthy of mention. It had to do with the little city 
of Namur, situated at the confluence of the Sambre 
and the Meuse, picturesque in situation and opulent 
of aspect. It was of importance as being situated 
near the frontier of France, and being dominated by 
a massive fortress of great strength, which crowned 
an abrupt precipice rising five hundred feet above 
the river's bed. Don John, weary of the annoyances 
to which he was exposed in Brussels, had decided to 



DON JOHN OF AUSTRIA 189 

change his seat of government and had fixed his 
attention upon this trim, neat and strong little city 
as a desirable place of abode. 

What immediately led him to this decision was the 
visit to the Netherlands of a celebrated personage, 
the beautiful Margaret of Valois, Queen of Navarre, 
who was proceeding to the baths of Spa to drink their 
healing waters, her route lying through Namur. It 
was not that she needed the waters, being as perfect 
in health as in beauty. There was a political scheme 
at the bottom of her visit, that of winning Flanders 
and Hainault for France. 

Don John had seen this subtle schemer in his 
journey under the disguise of a Moorish slave, had 
fallen a victim to her charms, and felt it a privilege 
to welcome her to his dominion. Passing through 
Cambray and Mons, she used her blandishments to 
seek to win the leading officials in those towns to her 
secret scheme. As her cortege drew near Namur she 
was met by Don John, with a small cavalcade of 
attendants. 

Margaret travelled in a splendid litter, enclosed 
with glass and lined with scarlet velvet. Litters 
bearing others of her train followed, with ten ladies 
of honor on horseback and as many chariots filled 
with ladies' maids. There were also armed guards 
and other attendants. 

When this showy cavalcade came up Don John 
sprang from his horse and cordially greeted the 
Queen, as did also the Duke of Aerschot and 
the Marquis of Havre. Then remounting, they 
escorted the Queen to Namur, Don John riding 
beside her litter and conversing with her on the 



190 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

way. The city was reached late in the evening, but 
houses and shops were brilliantly lighted in the 
Queen's honor, and the apartments to which she 
was conducted astonished her by their magnificence. 
So splendid was the tapestry and other adornments 
that they seemed more fitting for a royal palace than 
the apartments of a young bachelor prince. The 
Duke of Aerschot, questioned about this magnifi- 
cence, explained that it was the result, not of osten- 
tation, but of valor and generosity. After the battle 
of Lepanto the prince had restored without ransom 
two sons, who had been taken prisoners, of a power- 
ful Turkish bashaw. The father, in gratitude, had 
sent the victor this splendid tapestry, and it had been 
received at Milan, in which art center it had been 
adapted for furnishing purposes. 

The next day was one of banqueting and festivity, 
in which Don Jolm, ignorant of the real purpose 
of Margaret's visit, did his utmost to honor her 
coming. The festival took place on the river, in a 
fleet of gaily scarfed and painted vessels, many of 
them filled with musicians. Margaret, like a second 
Cleopatra, reclined in a gilded barge, under a richly 
embroidered canopy. The banquet was spread on an 
island, within a spacious bower of ivy, shaded by 
leafy elms. A dance on the greensward followed, 
the stars of night shining on the revellers when they 
returned to their barges. 

While the Queen concealed a secret purpose under 
her visit, Don John, though unaware of this pur- 
pose, hid a project of his own under the ceremony 
of reception. The next morning the Queen set out 
by way of the river to Liege, on her route to Spa. 



DON JOHN OF AUSTRIA 191 

No sooner had her barges floated out of sight than 
he sprang to his saddle and rode across the bridge 
which led to the citadel. Count Berlamont with his 
four trusty sons had already been sent to that strong- 
hold, where he told the castellan that the prince 
had a hunting excursion in view and that it would 
be proper to offer him the hospitalities of the castle 
on his way. 

Seigneur de Fraymont, the castellan, had no sus- 
picion of treachery in this request and readily yielded 
to the suggestion of Berlamont. Don John had 
previously placed a number of armed men in ambush 
in the adjoining thickets and now rode up to the cas- 
tle gate, blowing his hunting horn. The gate was at 
once opened for his admission, one of his gentleman 
attendants watching outside, while the hidden sol- 
diers began to toil up the slope. 

When all was ready outside the gentleman on 
guard entered the hall and made a signal to Don 
John, who was conversing with the castellan. The 
prince at this sprang to his feet and drew his sword, 
the Berlamonts drew their pistols, and at the same 
moment the soldiers entered the hall. 

Don John, crying that this was the first day of his 
government, ordered the castellan to surrender. De 
Fraymont, with little understanding of what all this 
meant, at once complied, and he and his garrison, 
mostly old men and invalids, were turned out of the 
place, Don John and his soldiers taking their place 
as lords of the citadel. 

This melodramatic act might seem unnecessary, 
in view of the fact that Don John, by virtue of his 
office, had the right to take possession of any fortress 



192 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

in the country, but in view of the enmity of the 
N'etherlanders he had some reasons to doubt if it 
would be surrendered on bare demand. He made an 
attempt also to occupy the citadel of Antwerp by 
strategy, but this proved less successful. 

Certainly the patriots of the provinces were not 
in favor of such summary proceedings and the irrita- 
tion grew until open hostilities broke out. Each side 
gathered an army, numbering about twenty thousand 
each, and these, at the end of January, 1578, met in 
battle at Gemblours, nine miles from Namur. A 
sudden cavalry attack on the Netherland army while 
in disorderly march led to a panic and rout, so com- 
plete and sudden that very few of the Spanish force 
were killed, while half of the patriot army is stated 
to have been killed or captured — the captives, in 
Spanish fashion, being all afterwards drowned or 
hanged. 

This was the one important military feat accom- 
plished in the Netherlands by the hero of Lepanto. 
It led to no important result. Lack of money ham- 
pered later active operations, pestilence broke out 
and ravaged the armies, and in September Don John 
himself was seized with a burning fever which in a 
few days led to his death. There was suspicion of 
poison in this sudden demise, but no proof of it 
was forthcoming. Thus suddenly passed away a 
soldier of great fame and ability, yet one who as a 
statesman had proved no match for the astute 
William the Silent, and during whose government 
of the Netherlands the cause of the patriots had 
signally advanced. 



CHAPTER XXIII 

THE SIEGE OF MAESTEICHT AND THE FRENCH FURY 

Don John was succeeded in the government of the 
Netherlands by Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma 
and nephew of Philip II., a soldier of the utmost 
courage and skill, who had played a brilliant part at 
the battle of Lepanto, who had won the battle of 
Gemblours by a skilful manoeuvre, and who was to 
prove far the ablest and best fitted for the post of all 
who had held the difficult position of Governor of 
the Netherlands. As a statesman he was far superior 
to Don John, and more than his match as a soldier, 
despite the great glory which the latter had gained 
from his destruction of the Turkish fleet at Lepanto. 

The new Governor-General found the Nether- 
lands more united and the insurrection there more 
difficult to deal with than in the case of any of his 
predecessors. The many years of steady and un- 
flinching labor of William of Orange had told for 
liberty, and the Union of the provinces, which he had 
so long sought to develop, had recently made great 
advances. Many of the important cities of the coun- 
try were now held for the patriots, these including 
Amsterdam, which they had recently gained. The 
effort to overthrow this union was the task which 
Alexander diligently sought to achieve. 

His first and most signal success was with the 
Walloons, the French-speaking people of southeast 
Belgium, whose adherence to the patriotic movement 
13 193 



194 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

was much weakened by their devotion to the Catholic 
faith. This attachment to the Eoman Church gave 
the wily Alexander an excellent opening to work 
upon their political sentiments. This he did by 
making liberal promises in regard to their political 
status. 

We cannot here go into the details of those nego- 
tiations and the efforts of the Prince of Orange to 
counteract the alluring promises of the Duke of 
Parma, and must simply state that the latter were 
successful, a reconciliation between the Walloon prov- 
inces and the King being achieved. 

It was a result that elated the Catholics and dis- 
mayed the patriots. All the efforts of the Prince to 
counteract the specious promises and representations 
of Parma proved in vain, and the Netherlands were 
effectually cut in twain by this secession of the 
Walloons. The result was received with exultation 
by the Catholic party at Paris, which celebrated it 
by an uncouth theatrical pantomime, in which the 
Walloon provinces were represented by a cow which 
the Prince of Orange vainly sought to milk, and 
which docilely followed the Duke of Parma back to 
Philip. 

This rejoicing on the part of the Catholics was 
matched by a bitterness on the part of the Protestants 
which led to patriotic outbreaks at Antwerp and 
Utrecht, while on the opposite side Philip, the young 
Count of Egmont, made a weak and unsuccessful 
effort to capture the city of Brussels and present it 
to the Spanish King, 

While these events were taking place Farnese, 
the Governor-General, had begun the work of seek- 



SIEGE OF MAESTRICHT 195 

ing to put down the insurrection by force of arms. 
His first attempt was made against the city of 
Maestricht, which had been the scene of a frightful 
massacre by the Spanish soldiers in October, 1576. 
This city, which had already suffered so severely, 
was again besieged in March, 1579, the Duke of 
Parma surrounding it with a powerful army, exceed- 
ing in numbers its total sum of defenders. 

Maestricht was a well-fortified city, built upon 
both sides of the Meuse, and was looked upon as the 
German gate to the Netherlands. Its garrison, while 
brave, was very weak, being hardly one thousand 
strong. In addition the trained bands of the burgh- 
ers numbered about twelve hundred, while within 
the city walls had collected several thousands of 
peasants, of much value in the work of sapping and 
mining. Against this feebly defended place Parma 
encamped with an army twenty thousand strong, 
and one constantly strengthened by reinforcements. 

The population of this devoted city was thirty- 
four thousand, few of whom were to survive the 
deadly siege. The story of so many sieges has 
already been given that this one must be dealt with 
briefly, though it was notable for many of its inci- 
dents and for the desperate courage with which the 
city was defended. 

Melchior was the name of the commandant, but 
the real defender was Sebastian Tappin, a brave 
and skilful Lorraine officer, sent there by the Prince 
of Orange. He began with the most careful prepara- 
tions, strengthening the walls, sinking shafts for 
mining operations, cleaning and deepening the moat, 
and repairing the forts that guarded the gates, of 



196 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

which there were six, each provided with ravelins, 
or defensive outworks. While this was being done, 
Parma encompassed the city and threw two bridges 
across the river. 

Attacks were made on the gates of Bois-le-Duc, 
near the river, and Longres, on the southwest. For 
several days the Longres gate was bombarded with 
forty-six powerful guns, but after six thousand shots 
had been fired and the wall partly crumbled, a mas- 
sive and uninjured terre-plein was seen within. This 
ill success diverted the bombardment to the gate of 
Bois-le-Duc. 

Mining processes were also undertaken, four thou- 
sand miners from the neighboring coal region being 
obtained and employed, delving inward toward the 
Longres gate. But there were skilled miners in the 
city also, and these countermined as actively, many 
women aiding in the work. The result was that the 
miners met at times underground and deadly com- 
bats took place in these deep subways. 

Stratagems were employed, the citizens at one time 
building a dam secretly across the Spanish mine, 
and then deluging their foes with hogshead of boil- 
ing water. They also heaped fagots in the mine, set 
them on fire, and blew the thick smoke upon their 
enemies with organ-bellows brought from the 
churches. This work with scalding water and suffo- 
cating smoke caused such loss to the besiegers that 
they abandoned their mine, replacing it by another 
begun at a long distance from the gate. This they 
dug inward until they reached a point beneath the 
ravelin, where they excavated a large chamber, sup- 
porting it with posts. Finally sacks of powder, enor- 



SIEGE OF MAESTRICHT 197 

mous in quantity, were placed in this chamber and 
fired. The explosion had a destructive effect, part of 
the tower falling and the moat being choked with 
heaps of rubbish. 

Across this the besiegers charged and entered the 
tower, but the defenders met them in the breach, 
fought them desperately, and finally forced them 
back, though they still held the moat and the ruined 
part of the ravelin. 

Five days later an assault in force was made on 
both the gates named, the besiegers charging across 
the moat, which had now been choked at many points 
with fagots and earth brought and thrown into it. 
But the determined advance was met with as resolute 
a defence, not only by the burghers, but by their 
wives and children, the women swarming to the walls 
and fighting in the front ranks. They used the same 
missiles spoken of in former sieges, such as pails of 
boiling water, blazing firebrands, and burning pitch 
hoops flung so as to fall around the necks of their 
enemies. The rustics used their ponderous flails 
as if threshing corn in their barns. As a result of all 
this the invaders lost heavily and were beaten back. 

In connection with the assault a new mine had been 
constructed and charged with powder, to be exploded 
between the Longres ravelin and the gate. But this 
had been secretly countermined by the townspeople, 
and was exploded by them at a moment unexpected 
by the besiegers. As a result five hundred of these 
were blown into the air, while of the defenders, 
warned in time, none were injured. 

An interesting incident is that told of a Spanish 
captain of engineers, who had been inspecting the 



198 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

mine at the time and was blown up from the depths. 
His body fell back into the excavation and was buried 
by the falling debris. Forty-five years later, when 
an excavation was made for the foundations of a new 
wall, his skeleton was found, clad in complete armor, 
with helmet and cuirass, his gold chain round his 
neck and his mattock and pick at his feet, he being 
thus buried in full panoply. 

The charge went on, even after this signal event, 
Alexander seeking to force his officers to the charge, 
and proposing to lead them in person. This he 
would have done, but that they threw themselves in 
his path and begged him to withdraw. Finally he 
gave the signal of recall and the fierce but unsuc- 
cessful assault ended. 

Parma now concluded that the city could not be 
taken by assault and turned his attention to sapping 
and mining, as more promising of success than 
charges on the walls. He also began to build a chain 
of forts, sixteen in number, around the city, these 
being connected by walls, so as to protect his forces 
from without while he assailed the city within. The 
result was that when a force of seven thousand men, 
collected with difficulty by the Prince of Orange, 
approached the city, they saw at once that relief 
was hopeless and retired without a blow. 

The story of what subsequently took place is too 
long to tell in detail. Step by step the Spaniards 
advanced, gradually gaining upon the defenders. 
Not until the garrison had been reduced to four hun- 
dred, nearly all of those wounded, did they show a 
willingness to treat for surrender. But to this the 
citizens would not listen and the struggle went on 



SIEGE OF MAESTRICHT 199 

with Tmreleiiting fury. The main hope of the people 
now lay in a fortification they had built within the 
Brussels gate, the final point of attack. 

This they continued to defend after everything 
else had been lost, and again haughtily refused a 
summons to surrender, in which Alexander ap- 
plauded them for their courage. Yet they were at 
their last ebb. During the following night a soldier 
on guard discovered a chink in the wall, an over- 
looked result of the recent cannonade. Widening it 
with his fingers, he finally was able to creep through, 
and found himself in the streets, sentinels and all 
others being fast asleep. Creeping back again, he 
carried the news to his officers, and before morning 
broke an assault was made upon this breach. 

The soldiers forced their way through or climbed 
the undefended breastwork and surprised the city in 
its slumber. The burghers, suddenly awakened, were 
bewildered and unprepared, and fell back in dismay 
before the unlooked-for attack. The result was the 
usual one in a city taken by assault in those days, an 
indiscriminate massacre. Women and children had 
fought beside the men and they as well as the men 
were cut doTVTi without mercy, all the cruelties for 
which the Spanish soldiery of that day were noted 
being perpetrated upon the defenceless inhabitants. 

For three days the work of massacre continued, 
and when it was over not four hundred of the people 
were left alive. These soon wandered away, a horde 
of sutlers and vagabonds taking their place in the 
city. As for booty, it was very large, Maestricht hav- 
ing been a thriving city with extensive and valuable 
cloth manufactories. Now, not only taken but de- 



200 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

populated and plundered, it was left open for 
strangers to inherit all that remained. 

We may close this chapter with a brief account of 
another warlike incident. The Duke of Parma suc- 
ceeded in taking many other cities during his so- 
journ in the Netherlands, these usually by surrender 
and with no other horrible massacre like that of 
Maestricht. But we here refer particularly to an 
exploit of the Duke of Anjou which became known 
as the " French Fury.^^ 

Alengon, to give this worthy his first title, was 
a brother of the King of France, who engaged to 
lead an army to the Netherlands to aid the Prince 
and his adherents in their struggle against Spanish 
tyranny, and was given the high sounding title of 
** Defender of the Liberty of the Netherlands against 
the Tyranny of the Spaniards and their adherents." 
He thus posed as an aid to the Prince of Orange and 
an enemy of the Duke of Parma. 

Worthless in character and false and fickle in 
nature, Anjou in the end became treacherous to his 
ally and devised a scheme to win dominion for him- 
self, his project being to take possession by the aid of 
his troops of the principal cities of Flanders.. Plans 
were laid for a number of these to be invaded on 
a fixed day by his officers, while he reserved Antwerp 
for himself. 

The day selected was the 15th of January, 1583, 
and the effort proved successful in the case of a num- 
ber of cities, though it failed in Bruges and Ant- 
werp. The Prince of Orange, then in Antwerp, 
received a mysterious warning on the night of the 
15th. While expressing full confidence in Anjou, 



SIEGE OF MAESTRICHT 201 

he deemed it advisable to take precautions against a 
possible attack. Anjou, applied to, protested that he 
had no such intent and was ready to shed every drop 
of his blood in the defence of Antwerp. 

His protests proved false, for at one o'clock on the 
following day a troop of three hundred men rode 
through the Kipdorp gate, where they suddenly 
attacked and killed the unsuspicious guard. Then 
they rode furiously into the streets, with shouts of 
"City won! City won! Long live the Duke of 
Anjou ! '' 

Their comrades, about six hundred cavalry and 
three thousand infantry, awaiting fully armed in 
their camp outside, at once followed, marching into 
the streets and firing at the burghers who appeared 
at doors and windows. Meeting with little resist- 
ance, the invaders broke ranks and began to make 
their way into stores and dwellings, too intent on 
plunder to consider their safety. 

Taking the alarm, the burghers flew quickly to 
arms. The trumpets sounded, the city guards 
swarmed out, chains were stretched across the streets. 
Everywhere the people rushed forth, armed and 
furious. The " Spanish Fury " was too recent to be 
forgotten. A bold baker, standing naked beside his 
oven — the custom of his trade in that day — rushed 
into the street, unhorsed a French officer with a blow 
from his bread shovel, seized his sword, sprang on 
his horse and rode unclad through the streets, strik- 
ing dismay among the enemy by the fury of his 
attack. So signal were his services that he was after- 
wards rewarded by a pension of three hundred florins 
for life. 



202 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

So sudden and resolute was the work of defence 
that the invaders found themselves swallowed up in 
the tide of citizens, nearly a third of them being 
slain. The others, in their attempt to retreat, fell 
rapidly, the dead at the Kipdorp gate being piled 
up ten feet deep. In all nearly two thousand were 
killed, including nobles of high rank, the rest being 
held as prisoners. 

Thus ended what has been called the "French 
Fury,'^ its end being very different from the *' Span- 
ish Fury " of a few years before. As for the Duke 
of Anjou, his treacherous attempt destroyed his 
influence in the Netherlands. He died in the 
following year. 



CHAPTER XXIV 

THE ASSASSINATION OF WILLIAM THE SILENT 

William the Silent, Prince of Orange, the 
greatest man that the Netherlands had produced, 
taking rank indeed with the leading men in the 
world's history, owed his fame to the skill and tenac- 
ity with which he opposed the designs of Philip II. 
of Spain and for years opposed the efforts of the 
Duke of Alva and the other emissaries of Philip to 
rob the Netherlands of their liberty of state and 
conscience. 

The chief events of his history have been given in 
preceding pages, but we have here to tell its tragic 
termination. Beginning his work with his country 
under complete control of Spain and all its inhabi- 
tants, with few exceptions, condemned to death as 
heretics, this brilliant statesman and organizer raised 
his standard against Spain and maintained a des- 
perate contest against that powerful country with 
unflagging resolution through long years of adversity. 
His efforts enabled him to win great part of the 
land from the dominion of Spain, to gain the love and 
veneration of the patriots of the Netherlands, and 
in 1579, in the Union of Utrecht, to found a famous 
republic, which adopted the name of the United 
Provinces of the Netherlands. This was composed 
of seven of the northern provinces, he being elected 
Stadtholder, a term equivalent to President. 

Despairing of overcoming this famous champion 

203 



204 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

of liberty by force of arms, the tyrant of Spain took 
the despicable course of seeking to dispose of him 
by murder. In 1580 he resolved to issue a ban 
upon him and set a price on his head. Writing to 
the Duke of Parma, he said : 

"It will be well to offer thirty thousand crowns 
or so to any one who will deliver him dead or alive. 
Thus the country may be delivered of a man so per- 
nicious; or at any rate he will be held in perpetual 
fear and therefore prevented from executing lei- 
surely his designs.'^ 

The ban narrated the various acts taken by 
William against Spanish control of the Netherlands, 
dealing with them as so many crimes, and declared 
him " traitor and miscreant, enemy of ourselves and 
of the country. As such we banish him perpetually 
from all our realms, forbidding all our subjects, of 
whatever quality, to communicate with him, openly 
or privately, to administer to him victuals, drink, fire, 
or other necessaries." 

The ban concluded by offering to any one who 
should capture or kill him twenty-five thousand 
crowns in gold, and stated as further reward to the 
assassin : 

"If he have committed any crime, however hei- 
nous, we promise to pardon him; and if he be not 
already noble, we will ennoble him for his valor." 

The Prince could not be beaten, he could not be 
bought, nothing remained but to see if he could not 
be murdered, and thus removed from the path of 
Philip the Abominable. It was a doom which 
William and his subjects contemned, but it was to 
bear its fruits. 



ASSASSINATION OF WILLIAM THE SILENT 205 

The first effort against the life of the Prince was 
made on March 18, 1582, the birthday of the Duke 
of Anjou, in whose honor a festival was to be held, 
the Prince and all the great French lords being in- 
vited. This was set for the evening and the Prince 
dined at home, in company with several persons of 
distinction. On his way from the dining-room to his 
apartments he stopped to show the noblemen with 
him a piece of tapestry on which were depicted several 
Spanish soldiers. 

As he stood there a young man, of vulgar mein 
and pale, dark complexion, approached from among 
the servants and handed him a paper. As he took 
it the stranger drew a pistol and fired at the Prince. 
The ball entered his neck under the right ear, 
passed through the roof of his mouth and out under 
the left jaw-bone, carrying with it two teeth. The 
Prince stood for a moment stunned, then called out, 
" Do not kill him — I forgive him my death." He 
then cried to the French noblemen, " Alas I what a 
faithful servant does his Highness lose in me.^' 
In this term he referred to the Duke of Anjou, then 
still fully trusted by the Prince. 

The appeal for mercy came too late. Two of the 
gentlemen present had already drawn their rapiers 
and run the murderer through. The halberdiers 
quickly rushed upon him, so that he fell pierced with 
thirty-one wounds. The Prince, who was thought to 
be mortally wounded, was helped to his room and 
put to bed, where the surgeons examined the wound. 

While very dangerous in appearance, the flame 
from the pistol had been so close as actually to cau- 
terize the wound and prevent the deadly flow of blood 



206 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

that might have followed, and hope returned. As 
the noble victim lay in bed he referred frequently to 
the position in which his death would leave the Duke 
of Anjou. " Alas, poor Prince ! ^^ he cried ; " alas, 
what troubles will now beset you." The sufferer did 
not know Anjou or dream of the treachery he was 
afterwards to devise. 

The body of the assassin being exposed upon the 
public square, it was soon discovered that he was the 
servant of a Spanish merchant of Antwerp, named 
Gasper d'Anastro. Eesearch showed that Anastro 
was the instigator of the affair. Being on the point 
of bankruptcy, he had written to King Philip and 
entered into a contract with him. The King agreed, 
if he should take the life of the Prince of Orange, to 
pay him eighty thousand ducats and honor him with 
the cross of Santiago. Too wary to risk his own 
life, Anastro prevailed upon his servant, John Jau- 
reguy, to attempt the deed for a small reward. He 
also took care to escape from the country before the 
deed was done. 

Two other persons, Yenero, Anastro's cashier, and 
Zimmerman, a friar and an inmate of his family, 
were arrested, put on trial for complicity in the 
crime, and confessed their knowledge of Anastro's 
purpose. At the Prince's request they were not tor- 
tured, but were strangled and quartered on a scaf- 
fold at the market place. 

Meanwhile the Prince lay in a very critical con- 
dition, and the concern throughout the country was 
great. Apprehension grew deep when, on April 5, 
the cicatrix on his neck, which had prevented the flow 
of blood, fell off, and a severe hasmorrhage followed. 



ASSASSINATION OF WILLIAM THE SILENT 207 

It was difficult to apply a bandage tight enough to 
stanch the wound without suffocating the patient, 
and the interesting expedient was adopted of provid- 
ing a succession of attendants, day and night, each 
keeping the wound closed by compression with the 
thumb until the blood flow should be checked by the 
healing process. The plan proved successful, and 
on the 2d of May the Prince was able to go to the 
cathedral to offer thanks for his recovery, amid the 
joyful sobs of a vast assemblage. The murderer's 
hand found one victim, however, Charlotte de 
Bourbon, the Prince's wife, dying three days later, 
of a fever brought on by her long watching and 
anxiety. 

This was not the only attempt on the Prince's life. 
Two other unsuccessful ones were made in the spring 
of 1584, and on the 10th of July of that year came 
the final and fatal one. The murderer was a man 
who, two days before, had brought the Prince 
despatches concerning the recent death of the Duke 
of Anjou and who had succeeded in finding in the 
house a good hiding place for the commission of his 
projected crime. This was a sunken arch at the 
foot of the stairway, behind which was a door opening 
to a narrow lane at the side of the house. 

The Prince had left the dining-room with some 
friends and proceeded to the foot of the stairway 
when a man emerged from the sunken arch, pistol in 
hand, and discharged it full at his heart. Three 
balls entered his body, one passing through him and 
striking the wall beyond. 

^^ my God ! have mercy on my poor people ! " 
were the last words spoken by him, with the exception 



208 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

of "Yes/' when his sister asked if he commended 
his soul to Jesus Christ. 

The murderer sprang through the door and sped 
down the narrow lane. He had almost reached the 
rampart, where he intended to spring into the moat, 
beyond which a horse awaited him, when he stumbled 
and was seized by men who had pursued him from 
the house. 

Little more need be said about him, other than 
that he was a fanatical Catholic, born in Burgundy, 
by name Bathazar Gerard, who had long projected 
this deed, and had been aided in his attempt by the 
Duke of Parma. He was tortured and executed in 
the cruel manner common in those days, but he had 
done the work to which he had consecrated his life. 
The great William of Orange had fallen a victim to 
his hand. 

While deeply mourned by his people, his assassina- 
tion gave the greatest satisfaction to Philip of Spain, 
who paid to the father and mother of the murderer 
the reward which, as Parma said, " the laudable and 
generous deed had so well deserved." They were not 
only paid the twenty-five thousand crowns but were 
ennobled, given an estate, and took their place 
among the landed aristocracy of Spain. Earely has 
so foul a deed been so rewarded, but there was no 
abomination of which Philip II. was not capable. 



CHAPTEE XXY 

THE FAMOUS SIEGE OF ANTWERP 

The murder of the Prince of Orange left the 
United Provinces of the Netherlands in a precarious 
condition. The great statesman gone who had for 
years held his own against all the power of Spain, 
the condition of those seven meager provinces, 
arrayed, with their million and a half of people, 
against the great Spanish empire, seemed hopeless. 
William the Silent left no successor with his ability 
and influence over the people. He left one son, 
Maurice, who was in time to come to prove himself 
a great soldier. But he was still a boy of seventeen, 
and had scarcely begun to show a trace of his native 
powers. 

On the other hand was Alexander Famese, Duke of 
Parma, the ablest man among those who had 
sought to hold the Netherlands for Philip of Spain. 
A capable soldier and skilled diplomatist, he had 
already by bribery and persuasion succeeded in 
bringing the Walloon provinces back to loyalty to 
Philip. Parma was also master of a number of cities 
within the boundaries of the seven provinces consti- 
tuting the Dutch Eepublic. There remained the rich 
territory of Flanders and Brabant with no declared 
master, the patriots being in possession of a number 
of its cities, especially Brussels and Antwerp, the two 
leading municipalities of the land. These strong- 
holds the Duke of Parma now set himself to win. 
14 209 



210 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

No man not his equal in the military art could have 
hoped to win them with the resources at his com- 
mand. Despite the fact that the power of the great 
empire of Spain lay behind him, he was left almost 
without men and money to do this work. At most 
he was unable to bring more than eight or ten thou- 
sand men into the field, and he was forced to beg 
Philip, often in vain, for money to pay these troops. 
But for the blunders of his opponents and the re- 
moval from his path of the Prince of Orange he could 
never have succeeded. 

The city of Antwerp, the chief goal of his wishes, 
as the center of commerce of the Netherlands, if not 
of all Europe at that time, stood on the wide and 
deep river Scheldt, and could boast of a harbor 
capable of containing two thousand merchant ships. 
With a large population within its walls and the 
active and daring Zealanders near at hand, to con- 
quer it with the small force which Parma could com- 
mand seemed a hopeless task. As for famine, it 
might easily laugh that to scorn. And it was so situ- 
ated that any invading force could be drowned out 
by opening the dykes. Yet in spite of all these 
advantages, incompetence and mismanagement threw 
it into Parma's hands, after a siege a year in length. 

We cannot give the details of this long siege, and 
must content ourselves with describing its leading 
features. The first evidence of incompetence came 
early in the siege. It would have been easy to supply 
Antwerp with food to last more than a year. It 
was estimated that it would require about 900,000 
bushels of grain for a year's supply. This was rap- 



FAMOUS SIEGE OF ANTWERP 211 

idly coming in when the magistrates, by an act of 
incredible folly, stopped the flow. They laid a high 
duty upon the incoming com. At once the tide of 
provisions ceased. Had the magistrates been in the 
pay of the Duke of Parma they could not have worked 
better for his cause. 

To prevent open commerce with the port Parma 
early began a stupendous undertaking, that of throw- 
ing a fortified bridge across the Scheldt, below the 
city, and thus making Antwerp practically an inland 
town. To bridge such a stream, half a mile wide and 
sixty feet deep in its central channel, was a task 
of immense difficulty with the meager facilities at his 
command. It took months to do it, and its central 
portion could never have been built except for the 
supineness of his adversaries, who made no con- 
certed attack upon the work. It was, however, finally 
completed and Antwerp shut in from the sea. 

Another defensive process, that of flooding the 
country, which would have put an end to the siege, 
was similarly mismanaged. There were two dykes 
which kept back the sea waters from the region 
around Antwerp, and the question of cutting these 
and flooding the country was early considered. In- 
stead, however, of doing this work at a point which 
would cause a general inundation, it was done, 
against the advice of the Prince of Orange, at a 
place which yielded no advantage to the besieged. 

A large section of the country, indeed, was flooded, 
to such a depth that only church steeples and high 
trees appeared above the waters, and whole villages 
disappeared. But the dykes which would have 
flooded the immediate vicinity of the city were left 



212 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

uncut and fell into the hands of the enemy before 
the need of piercing them was conceded. Sainte 
Aldegonde. the able governor of the city, vigorously 
demanded that the one known as the Kowenstyn 
dyke should be opened, and when he found, after 
long entreaty, that the work had not been done, he 
declared that the hair stood upright upon his head. 
Such were the fatal errors, the acts of folly, which 
led to the cit^'^'s fall. The efforts to overcome them 
were the specially interesting incidents of the siege. 

As for Parma, he was at times in despair. The 
money needed to pay his troops failed to appear, and 
many of the soldiers deserted, begging their way 
homeward through Prance, and denouncing their 
general. He, on the other hand, was in imminent 
danger of being forced to abandon the siege. He 
held on, however, borrowing where he could, and 
clinging to his work with indomitable energy. 

Meanwhile the bridge, which had been built with 
so much labor and skill, was in constant danger from 
the ice blocks which the wintry stream hurled against 
it. Especially was its central part, built of boats, 
each armed like a small fort, in peril from the icy 
flood. Yet it held fast and was so strongly fortifled 
as to defy any attack by the daring Zealaziders. 

An assault was, however, made upon the bridge 
from the city side, and one which, but for misad- 
venture, must have ended the siege. A certain native 
of Mantua, Gianibelli by name, a man of great 
mental resources, then residing in Antwerp, came 
to the city's aid. He had been one of those who advo- 
cated the buying of large supplies of grain and 
storing it up in magazines. He now laid before the 



FAMOUS SIEGE OF ANTWERP 213 

authorities a plan for attacking the bridge by fire- 
ships, and asked for three large vessels from the city's 
fleet, with a large number of flat-bottomed scows. 
His request was refused by the sapient magistrates, 
the most they were willing to do being to give him 
the use of two smaller vessels, respectively of seventy 
and eighty tons. Though disgusted with this parsi- 
mony on such a vital occasion, the Mantuan accepted 
the gift, named the two ships the Fortune and 
the Hope, and built within each a chamber of mason 
work filled with seven thousand pounds of powder. 
Over this was a cone of marble slabs filled with 
cannon balls and other dangerous missiles. 

These floating mines, preceded by thirty-two 
smaller vessels filled with combustible materials, were 
sent down the Scheldt at ebb tide on an April night. 
The fire-ships did no serious damage, being stopped 
by an anchored raft above the bridge or running 
ashore to burn out harmlessly. 

Next followed the two "hell-burners," as the 
mined vessels were called. The Fortune, which came 
first, ran ashore before reaching the bridge, and failed 
to explode, the slow match going out. This exhibi- 
tion of harmlessness was greeted with derisive laugh- 
ter by the soldiers who now crowded the bridge, and 
watched with curiosity the Hope, which had now 
drifted near. Passing between the raft and the 
shore it struck the bridge, only a thin wreath of 
smoke curling up. 

This, too, was greeted with laughter and derision, 
many springing on board to investigate the seem- 
ingly harmless vessel. The Duke of Parma stood 
on the bridge, but was induced to move away by 



214 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

an anxious friend. He was just in time. At that 
instant the clock-work connected with the match 
did its work, and a frightful explosion was heard. 
The Hope sank with those on board, and a large 
portion of the bridge, with the block-house near it, 
was blown to atoms, with all the crowding troops. 
The air was filled with the deadly missiles, some of 
which were afterward found a league away. Parma 
was hurled stunned to the ground, but escaped 
without injury. 

It had been arranged to send a barge to see if a 
breach had been made, and then fire a rocket to warn 
the fleet stationed down the river, heavily armed 
and laden with food. By an unlucky chance, the 
barge had started too soon, and shared the fate of 
the bridge, all on board being slain. Thus the rocket 
failed to rise, the fleet remained without moving, and 
this hopeful experiment, which would surely have 
saved Antwerp, passed without effect. 

During the following month a vigorous effort was 
made to capture and open the Kowenstyn dyke. 
Here also fire-ships were used to burn the palisades, 
but without effect, and the battle that followed was 
very hot. For a time the patriots held the dyke and 
made a breach in it through which the water poured 
like a river. 

Yet incompetence followed. The commanders 
sprang into a barge and rowed exultingly to Ant- 
werp. They were too soon. A fierce attack was 
made on the unwary and illy commanded delvers. 
They were driven off and the gap closed. Failure 
had again followed a most promising venture. " We 
had cut the dyke in three places,^' said one of the 



FAMOUS SIEGE OF ANTWERP 215 

patriots, "but left it most shamefully for want of 
commandment." 

This ended the effective defence of Antwerp. Soon 
after negotiations for its surrender began. A formal 
treaty was signed, August 17, 1585, providing for 
amnesty and oblivion if the city returned to its alle- 
giance. Only the Catholic faith was to be prac- 
tised, but those of other faith were given two years 
to wind up their affairs and leave the city. It was 
almost the first instance in this lamentable war in 
which no plunder or bloodshed followed the 
surrender. 



CHAPTER XXVI 

LEICESTER AND SIDNEY IN THE NETHERLANDS 

During the years that had passed the Netherlands 
stood alone against the great power of Spain. Money- 
was wanting, aid was wanting, only patriotism and 
religious animosity remained. Hired soldiers, Ger- 
man and French, were at times employed, but lack 
of cash to pay for their services made their aid of 
little importance. The capture of Antwerp, soon 
followed by the surrender of Brussels and other cities, 
was a serious loss to the patriots, and it seemed as 
if all the cities of the south would soon be in Parma's 
hands. 

In this state of affairs the only hope seemed to 
lie in an alliance with England or France, both then 
hostile to Spain, and earnest efforts were made to 
bring this about. But to many a treaty of alliance 
with France appeared like exchanging the Spanish 
for a French tyranny, and the feeling ran high in 
favor of an English alliance, especially in Holland 
and Zealand. 

We can only say here that negotiations in this 
direction were long continued. Queen Elizabeth of 
England being difficult to win over. By the time 
she fully made up her mind, Antwerp had fallen, 
and the task had grown much greater. British troops 
had been sent to relieve that place, but they came 
too late to be of service, and active measures were 
needed if Holland and Zealand were to be retained. 

It was finally decided to send to the aid of the 
Netherlands a force of five thousand infantry and 
216 



LEICESTER AND SIDNEY IN NETHERLANDS 217 

one thousand cavalry, the Earl of Leicester repre- 
senting England in that countr}^ Sir Philip Sidney, 
famous as an author and as a man of chivalrous 
soul, was made governor of Flushing, a port of high 
naval importance. Maurice of ISTassau, second son 
of William of Orange, then but eighteen years old, 
but already of great promise, was chosen in honor of 
his father as permanent stadtholder of Holland and 
Zealand. Such was his ability, indeed, that in 1587, 
at the age of twenty, he was elected Governor and 
Captain-General of the Seven United Provinces, and 
became their mainstay in the war with Spain. 

It was on the 19th of December, 1585, that the 
Earl of Leicester, Lieutenant-General of the English 
forces in the Netherlands, attended by "the flower 
and chief gallants of England," convoyed by a fleet 
of fifty ships, reached the port of Flushing. Here 
his nephew Sidney, governor of that place, with 
Maurice of iN'assau, and a procession of troops and 
civil ofiicials, escorted him in all honor to his lodg- 
ings. Thence he made a progress throughout the 
country, being feasted and feted as though he could 
shed independence with a wave of his hand. 

In fact, however, Alexander of Parma had little 
to fear from those auxiliaries. They were a sorry 
crew, untrained in military exercises, squalid and 
slovenly in appearance, ill-armed, ill-supplied, and 
ill-fitted to meet the veteran troops of Spain. Eliza- 
beth, noted for her covetous disposition, laid the 
expenses of the campaign largely on Leicester, who 
had to draw freely on his own estate to feed and 
clothe his sorry crew. 

As a result of this, a few months found these poor 



218 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

fellows in a destitute condition, mere barefoot, 
starving vagabonds. Leicester begged for money 
from the treasury, but little came, while what he 
was able to provide of his own was largely spent in 
paying old scores. As for Leicester himself, he 
was appointed, within a month after his arrival, 
Governor-General of the United Provinces, with 
supreme military command and civil and political 
power, receiving an oath of fidelity from the States. 

Meanwhile the Duke of Parma was not at rest. 
Many of the strongholds of Belgium were in his 
hands, but there were others still to win. The cities 
along the Scheldt, including Antwerp, had been 
taken, but Flushing, at its outlet, remained an out- 
post of the republic. In the same way he held some 
of the fortified cities along the Meuse and the Rhine, 
while the patriot forces held others. The military 
operations of 1586 were along these and the Waal 
and the Yssel rivers, where there were numerous 
strongholds in patriot hands. 

We can only say here that Parma was successful 
in most of this undertaking, some strongholds being 
taken by force, others surrendering, until most of 
the fortified cities of the region were in his hands. 
Some brilliant feats of arms were performed on the 
other side, but the unflinching persistence of the able 
Duke enabled him to win in the main issues of the 
campaign. 

As for Leicester, he was making a sorry show as a 
military chief, and it was not until late August that 
a decisive step was taken, this being the proposal to 
lay siege to the strong and important Spanish strong- 
hold of Zutphen, on the Yssel River. 



LEICESTER AND SIDNEY IN NETHERLANDS 219 

Leceister's army in this affair numbered about nine 
thousand in all, though he announced that it was 
fourteen thousand strong. He had to deal not only 
with the garrison of the city but with an army of 
sixty-five hundred men, brought up by the Duke of 
Parma to aid the garrison. 

Parma's first enterprise was an earnest attempt to 
provision the city, and for this purpose he collected 
supplies sufficient to feed four thousand men for 
three months. This he determined to send into the 
city at every hazard. A powerful escort was pro- 
vided, twenty-five hundred strong, and a plan formed 
to aid the convoy by a sally from Zutphen at the 
critical moment. 

This movement became known to Leicester, but not 
expecting so strong an escort he undertook to am- 
bush it with a force of two hundred cavalry, backed 
up by three hundred picked men. To send so small 
a force against the strong escort was a hopeless effort. 
The cavalry detachment was made up of veterans, 
ready for vigorous work, but not capable of miracles. 
Sir Philip Sidney was present, with many other 
notable cavaliers, and it was an incident connected 
with his presence that gave renown to this otherwise 
unimportant affair. Meeting Sir William Pelham, 
the lord marshal, lightly armed, Sidney, in a spirit 
of extravagant chivalry, threw off his own thigh 
armor and dashed into the fray with no protection 
but his cuirass. 

The little troop rode into the hostile ranks with a 
fury and devotedness equal to that of the famous 
" four hundred " of a later date. So fierce was the 
charge that the Spanish cavalry were several times 



220 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

driven back upon their musketeers. In the last 
charge Sidney rode through the enemy's ranks until 
he faced their entrenchments, when he was struck in 
the thigh by a musket ball. His chivalric but unwise 
discarding of his armor was a fatal act, his leg being 
dreadfully shattered. 

When he came back, suffering intense pain, his 
attendants brought him a bottle of water to quench 
his raging thirst. As he was about to drink, a 
wounded soldier '' who had eaten his last at the same 
feast,'' looked up wistfully into his face. Sidney 
instantly handed him the flask, exclaiming: "Thy 
necessity is even greater than mine." 

This act of impulsive benevolence has survived 
in story from that day to this, and has invested 
Sidney's name with a halo of glory which has aroused 
the admiration of the world and shed luster upon 
that otherwise insignificant military engagement. 

The ambush failed, the convoy reached the city, 
and Sidney's wound proved fatal. Thus ended that 
affair, made memorable by the act of one man. 

With a sketch of another dramatic event we may 
dismiss this subject. Zutphen, well provisioned, re- 
mained impregnable ; but the forts beyond the river 
and on the island in the stream fell into Leicester's 
hands. The great fortress which commanded the 
Yeluwe, and which had formerly held out against a 
siege of nearly a year, was taken by the valor of 
an English soldier, Edward Stanley. 

A breach, not a very promising one, having been 
made and an assault being attempted, Stanley sprang 
at the long pike of a Spanish soldier who was trying 
to thrust him from the wall. Seizing it with both 



LEICESTER AND SIDNEY IN NETHERLANDS 221 

hands, he wrestled with the soldier for its possession. 
Conspicuous by his dress, all yellow but his corselet, 
he was in full view of Leicester and the army. Other 
soldiers broke their pikes upon his corselet, or fired 
at him with their muskets, but he held doggedly on. 
Those who sought to follow him up the breach found 
the sandy soil give way beneath their feet, and failed 
to reach him. 

Suddenly changing his plan, Stanley let the sol- 
dier lift him from the ground. Then, gaining pur- 
chase with his feet on the wall, he succeeded in 
scrambling over the parapet and dashed with drawn 
Bword among the defenders of the fort, cutting them 
down with berserker rage. 

That he could escape with life semed incredible, 
but his followers now made ladders of each others' 
shoulders, succeeded in following him up and rushed 
to his aid with such energy that the garrison was 
soon overpowered and the fort taken. Leicester, en- 
thusiastic at this feat of desperate courage, knighted 
Stanley on the spot, and the next day presented him 
with forty pounds in gold and gave him an annuity 
of one hundred marks sterling for life. 

It is probable that this annuity soon ended, for the 
Earl of Leicester soon after appointed Stanley gov- 
ernor of the important seaport city of Deventer, and 
Stanley, a Catholic, turned traitor to his country and 
delivered the city to the troops of Spain. 



CHAPTER XXYII 

THE FATE OF THE IXVIN"CIBLE ARMADA 

Important among the successes of the Duke of 
Parma was the capture of the city of Sluys, a valu- 
able seaport of Zealand, with a harbor capable of 
containing five hundred large vessels, and an excellent 
though intricate passage to the sea. It lay amid 
a small archipelago of sandy islands, standing upon 
nearly the only firm soil of the region. Its posses- 
sion was of great importance just then to Parma, as 
a basis for the invasion of England, long contem- 
plated by King Philip and himself. In fact, the 
great event of the ensuing year was the sailing of the 
famous Armada, of which the Duke of Medina 
Sidonia was the admiral, while the Duke of Parma 
was selected to command the land forces. Of these 
he sought to gather a force of 30,000 men in 
Flanders, and the strongest hopes were entertained 
of sweeping the British fleet from the sea and sub- 
duing the heretical island of Great Britain. The 
'' Invincible Armada " it was called, a title strikingly 
out of consonance with its ultimate fate. 

It was at the end of May, 1588, that the fleet, 
huge for that date, set sail from the port of Lisbon, 
Portugal, where for a month it had awaited a favor- 
able wind. It consisted of one hundred and twenty- 
nine ships, half of them of over 700 tons burden, 
manned by 8,000 sailors, and carrying 19,000 sol- 
diers. It was armed with more than 3,000 cannon, 
222 



FATE OF INVINCIBLE ARMADA 223 

and held provisions enough to feed 40,000 men for six 
months. Such a fleet, when to its military force were 
added the 30,000 men hoped for by the Duke of 
Parma, appeared likely to prove "invincible" to 
the England of that day. 

All that Elizabeth had to oppose to this great fleet 
was a squadron of eighty ships, of which only thirty 
were ships of the line. The sole advantage it could 
claim was that the small size of its ships made them 
more manageable than the unwieldy Spanish gal- 
leons. Four of these, known as galeasses, were of 
1,200 tons burden, an enormous size for that period. 
But they were so clumsy in build as to appear admira- 
bly " unfit " for warlike purposes. 

The English ships were manned by 9,000 of the 
hardiest sailors of Europe, while under Lord Howard, 
the admiral in command, were such men as Drake, 
Hawkins and Frobisher, the most famous seamen 
of their day. Drake, who for years had harassed 
the American ports and ships of Spain and had been 
the second to circumnavigate the globe, had per- 
formed a memorable exploit in 1587, when he was 
sent " to singe the King of Spain's beard." In this 
enterprise he dashed into the port of Cadiz, burnt, 
sunk or captured one hundred vessels intended for 
the Armada, and made his way back in triumph. 
Men of this character were likely to make their mark 
in the work now laid out for them. 

The fleet gathered by England was not the only 
one enlisted in the enterprise. In the inlets and 
estuaries of the Flemish coast had gathered a squad- 
ron of Dutch vessels, numbering about one hundred 
and fifty in all, ably manned by the skilled and dar- 



224 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

ing mariners of Holland and Zealand, and blockading 
every channel of egress from the coast ports. They 
were waiting eagerly to grapple with the vessels of 
the Duke of Parma, when these should attempt to 
put out with the reinforcements recruited by him in 
the Netherlands. 

The Armada seemed destined for misfortunes 
from its start. It had but barely got to sea when 
a gale in the Bay of Biscay drove it for shelter into 
the port of Ferrol. During this gale an interesting 
incident took place, well worth relating. Of the 
four great galleys, unwieldy monsters of sixteenth 
century sea-architecture, the Diana, the largest of 
the four, went to the bottom in the gale with all 
hands. A second, the Vasana, was in such sore 
straits and imminent peril of the same fate that the 
captain asked one of the galley slaves, whom he knew 
to be an able sailor, to take charge and try to save 
the vessel. 

This man, a Welsh mariner named David Gwynn, 
a prisoner of war, had toiled in the Spanish hulks 
for eleven years, hopeless of escape. Released from 
the oars and given control of the ship, he told the 
captain that it was useless to follow the fleet in that 
gale. They would go down as the Diana had done. 
Their only hope was to take in all sail and seek by 
their oars to reach the nearest port. As for the 
soldiers, they were a mere encumbrance on deck and 
should be sent below. The captain consented to 
this, most of the soldiers being put under the hatches, 
while the remainder were s'eated on the benches 
among the rowers. 

This was an opportunity for which Gwynn and his 



FATE OF INVINCIBLE ARMADA 225 

fellow slaves had long hoped. They had even pre- 
pared for it by secretly making stilettos out of refuse 
bits of steel and broken sword blades. Gwynn's 
first effort was to take the steps necessary to save the 
ship. As soon as this was done he made a precon- 
certed signal to his fellows and instantly stabbed the 
captain to the heart. Each of the slaves did the 
same with the soldier beside him. Then, rushing 
below, they surprised and killed the rest of the 
troops. The great galley was theirs. 

On reaching the deck again Gwynn saw that an- 
other of the great galleys, the Royal, was bearing 
down upon them, evidently with suspicion. A few 
minutes later there came from her a broadside which 
killed nine of his men. Gwynn at once headed his 
vessel for the Royal, laid it alongside with a heavy 
shock, and dashed on its deck at the head of his crew. 
A hot contest followed, in which the slaves of the 
Royal took part with the assailants, and soon the 
daring rowers were masters of this vessel also, its 
Spanish crew being put to death. 

When the gale abated the experienced Welshman 
made his way with his prizes to the coast of France, 
landing at Bayonne, the property on the galleys being 
divided between him and his fellow slaves. The 
fugitives, 466 in number, of varied nationality, made 
their way to Eochelle, where Gwynn had an interview 
with Henry of Navarre, soon to become Henry IV. 
of France, who congratulated him and made him a 
handsome present. Finally he reached England, 
where he was highly commended by the Queen. 

It was near the end of July when the two fleets 
met in the English Channel and the first fight took 
15 



226 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

place, the British mariners dexterously keeping their 
small vessels out of close reach and annoying their 
enemies seriously. This hornet-like attack contin- 
ued till the end of the week, when the Spaniards 
reached and made their way into the port of Calais, 
where a junction with the Duke of Parma and his 
men was expected to take place. Unfortunately for 
the Spaniards this project failed. Parma was tied 
up tightly in port by the alert Dutch fleet, and found 
it impossible to escape their vigilance with his laden 
transports. The Spanish admiral had dispatched 
messenger after m^essenger to the Duke, asking for 
pilots, small shot, and fly-boats to deal with the 
annoying English cruisers, which his large vessels 
were unable to handle. But no such aid came. 
Parma and his men were effectually bottled up. 

Meanwhile the British were planning an unwel- 
come surprise. Sir William Winter, of the Van- 
guard, was sent for by Lord Howard to come on board 
the flagship and consult with him as to what course 
should next be pursued. During the conversation 
there came to Winter's mind a recollection of the 
fire-ships which had been sent against Parma's 
bridge at Antwerp, four years before, with such 
striking effect. He suggested that something of the 
same kind might be attempted here. Howard ap- 
proved of the suggestion and the next day held a 
council to decide upon how it should be carried out. 

At midnight the project was put into effect, eight 
small vessels, well filled with combustibles, being set 
ablaze and sent into the midst of the Spanish fleet. 
A wild panic followed. There were men on board 
who had seen that night at Antwerp, and wild cries 



FATE OF INVINCIBLE ARMADA 227 

of '' the fire-ships of Antwerp ! '^ came from their 
lips. In their mad fright the cables were cut and the 
vessels made a frantic effort to escape^ some of them 
becoming entangled, others catching fire and burning. 

The English ships lost no time in pursuing the 
fleeing Spaniards, and at dawn came up with them 
at Gravelines, where the battle was resumed, the 
nimble English pouring broadside after broadside 
into the lumbering galleys while they were able to 
do little damage in return. After six hours of this 
work the Spaniards found their best ships badly 
used up and drifting before a northwest wind upon 
the sandbanks of Holland. More than 4,000 men 
had fallen, while the English loss was small and 
not a ship had been taken. 

A council of war was now called by the Spanish 
admiral and it was decided, as the Duke of Parma 
had not joined them with his army, that they should 
return to Spain, sailing around the Orkneys and 
back by way of the Irish coast, as the winds were 
unfavorable for a direct return. The English queen, 
in her money-saving way, had allowed her fleet to 
sail with a sparse supply of ammunition and they 
were unable to follow, being obliged to return for 
supplies. 

But the winds of the North Sea now took up the 
work of destruction. When Lord Howard gave up 
the chase, on August 13, a hundred of the Spanish 
ships were still afloat. But on the following day 
the wind shifted and a furious gale came from the 
southwest. So violent was it that the British ships 
were in serious peril, but within a few days all had 
safely arrived in Margate roads. Far different was 



228 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

the fate of the unwieldy Spaniards. Hurled along 
between the savage rocks of Faroe and the Hebrides, 
a series of disasters marked their helpless flight. The 
coasts of Norway, Scotland and Ireland were strewn 
with wrecks as gale after gale followed them during 
the remainder of the month. 

In the end only about half those that escaped the 
English fleet came limping back to Spain, the ships 
60 damaged as to be utterly worthless, the men ex- 
hausted with hardship and fatigue. Of the 30,000 
who had manned the great fleet probably not more 
than 10,000 reached home again. Such was the hap- 
less lot of the Invincible Armada. It had been rather 
annihilated than vanquished by the combined assault 
of the British ships and the Atlantic gales. 

Fortune had as much as valor to do with saving 
England from a serious calamity. In fact, little had 
been done to meet the enemy if they had been suc- 
cessful in landing their troops. Queen Elizabeth 
had not only sent out her fleet with a sparse supply 
of ammunition, but had made very slight prepara- 
tion for a land attack. There were no fortresses, 
no trained soldiers, little to depend upon but hasty 
levies to meet the veterans of Spain and the Nether- 
lands. The commander-in-chief of the army was a 
favorite of the Queen and that is all that can be 
said for him. Of small ability and hated by the 
people, he was sadly unfit for the great task that 
might have fallen upon him. 

Elizabeth talked magniloquently of putting herself 
at the head of her troops, but if Alexander of Parma 
had succeeded in reaching England with his Spanish 
veterans and Italian pikemen, seasoned to war on 



FATE OF INVINCIBLE ARMADA 229 

many a hard-fought field, he would probably have 
swept through the country like another William the 
Conqueror. 

The hardy mariners of Holland and Zealand did 
yeoman duty in holding back Parma and his troops 
and in saving England from this impending peril. 
For years Philip of Spain had been nursing and 
preparing for this grand effort, carried out at great 
cost, and England owed its delivery not only to the 
valor of British seamen and the storms of heaven, 
but as well to the sturdy courage of the Dutch 
mariners. 



CHAPTEE XXVIII 

THE EXPLOITS OF PRIIS^CE MAURICE OF I^ASSAU 

The assassination of William the Silent in 1584 
proved of no advantage to his murderers. Two men 
of notable ability took up the task he had long held 
alone, that of the struggle for independence of the 
Netherlands. These were his son, Maurice of Nassau, 
who became one of the greatest captains of modern 
times, and the eminent statesman, John of Barne- 
veldt, the leading political genius of that period. 
It is with the soldier, Prince Maurice, that we are 
here concerned. 

Philip, the eldest son of the Prince of Orange, 
was seized by the Duke of Alva in 1568, sent to Spain 
as a hostage, and held there as a prisoner for many 
years, becoming a disciple of the political and relig- 
ious creed of Philip II. Maurice, the second son, 
took his place as the representative of the Orange 
family in the Netherlands. 

He surpassed his father in one particular, that of 
native military ability. A boy for years after his 
father's death, he was one of eminent practical abil- 
ity, one who saw clearly the defect in the Netherland 
military methods, that of fighting with raw levies 
against the trained and hardened veterans of the 
Spanish army, and also the need of a commander 
fit to vie with the military genius of Alexander 
Farnese, Duke of Parma. 

Prince Maurice, while still a boy, set himself to 
230 



EXPLOITS OF PRINCE MAURICE 231 

overcome both these defects. For more than four 
years, while most youths of his position would have 
occupied themselves in frivolities and reckless mili- 
tary exploits, he set himself to a scientific study of 
the military art under the learned Simon Stevinus of 
Bruges. He was quick to recognize the source of 
Spanish success, the need of developing a mili- 
tary organization equal to that of Spain and a system 
of tactics and evolution that would surpass it. 

In this he was aided by his cousin Lewis William, 
Stadtholder of Friesland, a rugged little hero, brave 
as a lion in the field, and one who had been in more 
than one hard-fought battle. He, too, recognized 
that the old military system was growing obsolete 
and that a superior one was needed to take its place. 
The system of evolution then practised, that of great 
solid squares of troops moving and wheeling as one 
body, was set aside by the young stadtholder, who 
drilled his soldiers in small groups, wheeling, ad- 
vancing, retreating in various ways, fitted for nar- 
row places or contracted situations, until he had 
them capable of facile handling in every contingency 
likely to arise. Such were the methods pursued by 
the two cousins, who worked together to develop and 
perfect their new system. 

What was wanted was a Dutch standing army, 
trained and efficient, and this the alert cousins did 
their utmost to develop. The army, as first organ- 
ized, was a small one, about ten thousand foot and 
two thousand horse, but under the new system of 
training it was well disciplined, well equipped, and, 
of equal importance, well paid. The latter gave it 
a distinct superiority to the Spanish army, which 



232 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

was kept in a state of almost constant mutinous spirit 
for lack of pay. 

Such was the state of affairs from a military point 
of view in 1590. At this date the United Provinces 
were by no means the sole masters of their territory, 
many of their most important towns being held 
for the Spanish King. Some of these had been re- 
cently taken by Alexander of Parma; some had been 
lost by treachery, like Deventer, surrendered by Sir 
William Stanley; Veluwe, the fortress of Zutphen, 
by Sir Eowland Yorke; and Groningen, sold to 
Spain by a Netherland traitor. These cities it was 
the purpose of Maurice to win back if possible, and 
certain conditions just then greatly aided him. 

Troubles in France were then acute. Henry III. 
had been murdered in 1589 by a fanatical monk. 
The next in succession was the Huguenot Eling 
Henry of Xavarre, who was opposed by a Catholic 
party, aided by Spanish gold and Spanish troops. 
One important result of this was that the Duke of 
Parma was ordered by King Philip to France to 
aid in this work, thus removing this able soldier 
from the field covered by the plans of Maurice and 
his pugnacious cousin. 

With this necessary preliminary description we 
may take up the story of the exploits of the young 
captain-general, in his effort to recover the strong- 
holds of his country from Spanish control. 

His first movement was against the town of 
Breda, on the river Merk, in the province of Brabant, 
a place which, while not important in itself, occupied 
an important position. It was taken by an interest- 
ing piece of strategy. A boatman who had been in 



EXPLOITS OF PRINCE MAURICE 233 

the habit of taking boatloads of turf to Breda, to 
serve for fuel, proposed to conceal a number of 
armed men in the hold of his vessel, under a freight 
of turf. Unluckily the wind was against them and 
several days passed of struggling progress up the 
stream, the men packed like sardines in their box, 
suffering from hunger, thirst, and wintry cold. One 
night it became necessary to take them out for re- 
freshment. During that night the wind changed and 
blew up stream, but it took two days more to reach 
the harbor of Breda. 

The boat had been there so often before that it was 
passed without difficulty by the guards, but it struck 
an obstruction in the river which developed a leak, 
with the result that the men were soon up to their 
knees in freezing wat^r. The pumps were put to work, 
while laborers were busily unloading the turf. There 
was danger of these exposing the hidden men, but 
as night came on they were got rid of by the cap- 
tain, who invited them out to have some beer, saying 
that the rest of the cargo might be left till next 
morning. 

The remainder can be told in a few words. At 
midnight the hidden men, seventy in number, were 
released, carried the citadel by surprise, and ad- 
mitted Prince Maurice and a body of picked troops. 
Before daylight Breda surrendered, the ordinary 
l^lundering being commuted by the payment of two 
months' wages to the soldiers engaged. 

This exploit took place in 1590, but it was not 
until the following year that Maurice began his 
great career of conquest. It was his purpose to 
obtain control of the line of the AYaal and Yssel 



234 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

rivers, the strongholds along which, several of them 
lost by English perfidy, were in Spanish hands. 

The first movement was against Zutphen, the 
great fortress of which, taken by Leicester, had been 
delivered to the Spanish by Stanley and Yorke. 
This fort was of great importance to the town. 
At dawn of May 23, 1591, five women and six men, 
apparently peasants and their wives, appeared before 
the fortress gates with baskets of eggs, butter 
and cheese. This was a common occurrence and 
soon some of the guard came out to chaffer with 
them for their goods. Suddenly one of the seeming 
women pulled out a pistol from under her clothes 
and shot the soldier who was cheapening her eggs. 
At once the rest of the party sprang upon the guard, 
overcame and bound them, and seized the gateway. 
A considerable party, ambushed near the place, now 
ran out, and in a few minutes this outwork of 
Zutphen was in their hands without the loss of a man. 

The next day Maurice regularly invested the city, 
mounted his guns, and bombarded the place so 
actively that on the 30th it surrendered, this im- 
portant place, which so long had resisted the States, 
being now taken within a week. Easy terms of sur- 
render were granted, the soldiers being allowed to 
march out with their effects, while all citizens could 
remain who agreed to be loyal to the States. 

Placing a garrison in the town Prince Maurice lost 
not a day, marching down the river the same day to 
Deventer, seven miles below, his artillery and muni- 
tions being boated down the Yssel. Within five days 
this city was invested and twenty-eight guns brought 
to bear upon the weakest spot in its walls. 



EXPLOITS OF PRINCE MAURICE 235 

The place was strongly fortified and was garrisoned 
by fourteen hnndred Spaniards and Walloons, under 
Herman van der Berg, first cousin to Prince Maurice. 
He was a fervent Catholic, however, loyal to the 
Spanish King, and bent on a vigorous resistance. 
The council of the provinces visited Maurice in his 
camp and strongly suggested an abandonment of the 
siege, saying that it would be long and desperate and 
that there was a serious danger of an attack from 
outside. To such counsel as this Maurice was the 
last man to yield. 

On June 9 the batteries opened, nearly 5,000 
shots being fired before a practicable breach was 
opened. Here a hard fight took place, the assailants 
being in the end repulsed. The cannonade mean- 
while was kept up on other parts of the town and 
the next day the place surrendered. Its walls shot 
to ruins, it was no longer tenable, and the terms 
offered by Prince Maurice were very favorable. The 
soldiers were permitted to march out with bag and 
baggage, and the burghers were treated like brothers, 
no plundering being permitted and no ransom 
demanded. 

Thus in less than three weeks Maurice had won 
two cities of high importance. But he was after the 
whole tale of strongholds and with little delay moved 
his army upon Groningen, a place of leading impor- 
tance. In the early days of July he captured several 
places in its vicinity, and on July 15 appeared before 
the strongly fortified city of Steenwick. 

He now learned that the Duke of Parma, who had 
returned from France, was in the field and had made 
an attack on Fort Knodsenburg, on the island of 



236 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

Batavia, between the two great horns of the Rhine. 
Without hesitation Maurice at once broke up his 
camp, deciding that this dangerous opponent must 
be met at once and, if possible, driven back. 

It must suffice here to say that he was successful 
in this enterprise, Parma finding his army in peril in 
consequence of his having neglected to build a bridge 
over the Waal. He had not looked for such celerity 
on the part of the Netherlands and hastily trans- 
ported his army by ferryboats over the stream. 
Fortunately for the success of Maurice, this formi- 
dable opponent was obliged by the orders of his King 
to return at once to France, and the most he could do 
was to offer promises of protection to Nymegen. 

Every one expected that this place would be the 
next goal of the young commander, but, after mak- 
ing preparation of provisions and munitions in Zea- 
land, he suddenly appeared before the gates of Hulst, 
a place of importance from its situation on the 
border of Brabant and within a dozen miles of 
Antwerp. Five days sufficed for the capture of this 
town, and, leaving it well garrisoned, Maurice sud- 
denly appeared before the walls of Nymegen, bridged 
the swift river, and transported his army and sixty- 
eight pieces of artillery across the stream. 

Surrender was demanded on October 20, the reply 
being that the Prince was too ardent a suitor and 
the city a spinster not so easily to be won. Yet the 
guns of the ardent suitor soon changed the mind of 
the spinster, and surrender was made on the second 
day of the bombardment. Thus another important 
city was gained, the progress of the new commander 
being so rapid as to seem incredible, in view of the 



EXPLOITS OF PRINCE MAURICE 237 

long time it had taken to subdue some of these cities 
in the past. 

This ended the campaign of 1591. That of 1592, 
though not less important, must be more rapidly 
dealt with. The city of Steinwyck, which Maurice 
had threatened in the preceding year, was besieged 
on May 29, with an army of eight thousand men. 
Cannonading proved ineffective here and excavation 
and the explosion of mines became necessary, with 
the result that surrender was made on July 4, the 
terms being the easy ones given on former occasions. 

On July 26 the army encamped before Coeworden, 
a place of great strength, being built between two im- 
mense marshes on a narrow, sandy pass of hard soil 
separating them. It was supposed to be impregnable, 
and much interest was taken in the siege. Having 
intrenched his camp and begun the work of ap- 
proaches, he left Lewis William in charge and ad- 
vanced upon Oatmarsum, a frontier town that might 
give him trouble if left in hostile hands. This fell 
at once and on July 31 he was back before Coeworden. 
Here sapping and mining were diligently kept up 
during the following month. Meanwhile a strong 
force was approaching to relieve the place and on 
the night of September 6 a sharp attack was made 
on the camp. Warned by an intercepted letter, 
Maurice was so fully prepared that the assailants 
were routed with nearly a thousand killed and 
wounded, while the Netherlanders lost seven in all. 
In the days that followed the siege was pushed so 
vigorously that the city fell on September 13, and 
Coeworden was added to Maurice's triumphs. 

There are two more sieges to speak of, those of 



238 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

Gertruydenburg and Groningen. The former was 
invested in March, 1593^ the camp being turned into 
a second stronghold surrounded by caltrops and man- 
traps impassable by cavalry. The camp was abun- 
dantly provisioned by the surrounding peasantry, 
since everything brought in was paid for on the spot. 
The siege was carried on with pick and shovel, three 
thousand pioneers working willingly day and night, 
for they received special pay for this service. So 
thoroughly and with such admirable skill was every- 
thing done that military visitors from foreign coun- 
tries came to inspect the camp and take new lessons 
in the art of war. On June 24 the great north 
ravelin was blown up by an explosion, soldiers rushed 
in, the garrison was driven back, and the city 
surrendered. 

Groningen remained to be taken, its siege lasting 
from May 20 to July 24, 1594, when it, too, fell. 
It was last of the strongholds of the United N'ether- 
lands that had been held by the foe. Thus had the 
skill and courage of Prince Maurice and Count 
Lewis William, aided by the statesmanship of Barne- 
veldt and his colleagues, rounded up the dominion 
of the Dutch republic, and consolidated it. into a 
compact and independent commonwealth. 



CHAPTER XXIX 

HOW OSTEND WAS BESIEGED AND DEFENDED 

This work has been largely a story of sieges, those 
on the Spanish side usually followed by ravage and 
massacre, those on the Netherland side never 
attended by these horrors. These tales of terror 
might well be here closed, but there is one more of 
remarkable character, the memorable siege of Ostend, 
too important to be omitted. In fact, the siege of 
Ostend, begun in 1601, was practically the whole 
war for a period of more than three years, and was 
one of the most striking events in the struggle with 
Spain. 

Ostend, at that time a small and unimportant 
place, was the only one left to the Netherland repub- 
lic in Flanders. An open village of about three 
thousand inhabitants, it was in no sense the center 
of fashionable resort which it has since become, and 
was chiefly known as a place for the pickling of her- 
ring. It had, however, been so strongly fortified 
by the Hollanders as to beat off an attack by the Duke 
of Parma in 1583. The republic, therefore, felt 
little inclined to give it up, and kept in it a garrison 
of seven or eight thousand men, of whom about two 
thousand were English, supplied by the Queen. 
For the same reason the Spanish authorities were 
as anxious to take it, and fought for it with a tenacity 
rarely equalled. 

At the date of this siege Philip II. and the Duke 
of Parma had both ended their careers in death, 

239 



240 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

and Albert, an Austrian archduke, who had married 
Isabella, Philip's daughter, was at the head of affairs 
in the Spanish N'etherlands. It was his determina- 
tion to bring the whole of Flanders under his control 
that led to the protracted siege with which we are 
here concerned. 

The struggle was preceded by a battle of unusual 
character, in which Maurice of Nassau and Sir 
Francis Yere, the English commander, led the Neth- 
erland troops and Archduke Albert those of Flanders. 
Maurice had been sent by the States-General to attack 
Nieuport, in the vicinity of Ostend. But, to his 
surprise, his enemies had been more prompt than he 
expected, and he found himself in the face of a 
powerful Spanish army, led by the alert Albert. 
There was other work before him than that of a 
quiet siege. 

In fact, he soon found himself in imminent peril. 
A force of two thousand men, whom he had sent to 
hold a bridge which the enemy would have to cross, 
reached it too late, and were met by a hot attack. 
In a brief period the cavalry were put to flight in 
utter dismay, communicating their panic to the 
footmen, the whole force flying toward Ostend, and 
many of them being cut dovm without resistance in 
their uncontrollable flight. 

This disgraceful panic left the army of the States 
in a critical position. Part of it had crossed the 
harbor at Nieuport, but two-thirds were still on the 
other side, with the tide at flood between. Had an 
attack been then made by the enemy it would have 
been fatal. It was fortunately delayed by the affair 
at the bridge, and at eight o'clock the tide had sunk 



OSTEND BESIEGED AND DEFENDED 241 

sufficiently for the men to wade across, with the 
water at places reaching their shoulders. 

Such was the state of affairs with Maurice's army 
when the beach leading toward Ostend was seen to 
grow black with troops, and two troopers came gallop- 
ing up with the news of the defeat at the bridge and 
that the troops seen were those of the Archduke. 
Lewis Gunther, a cousin of Maurice, sent them at 
once to headquarters, forbidding them to speak ex- 
cept to the commander. The news they brought was 
highly discouraging, but Maurice kept it to himself, 
and at once took a remarkable resolution, equal to 
that of the bold Cortez when he sank his ships on the 
coast of Mexico. The large fleet of vessels which 
had brought the army to that point lay floating in the 
harbor. At once he gave orders that every vessel 
should put to sea at once. He thus burned his bridges 
behind him. The men must fight their way to 
Ostend or die where they stood. Escape by sea was 
impossible^ surrender not thought of. This he told 
to the men as he rode through the ranks. There was 
no alternative between victory and death. 

We have not the space to tell the varied events of 
the battle that followed. It must suffice to say that, 
after several hours of fighting, the army of the 
State was driven from one sand-dune to another 
until it stood on the beach. It looked as if the re- 
treating troops would be pushed into the sea. The 
day was, to all appearance, lost, and probably with 
it the existence of the Netherland republic. Maurice, 
who sat calmly on horseback, watching and directing 
the battle, seemed the only man free from fright in 
that dismayed host. 
16 



242 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

Fortunately for him, the pursuing enemy made 2 
pause in its pursuit. It was one of those critical 
moments in a battle in which the tide of fortune 
turns. The cavalry, which had been firmly held in 
reserve until this momentous instant, was now 
ordered to charge. They did so with a fierce assault 
that rolled back the Spanish infantry. Some Zealand 
sailors at the same time opened fire upon them from 
a battery, and the infantry, with a sudden return 
of confidence, rushed forward in the rear of the 
cavalry. That wild charge decided the battle. The 
enemy in turn broke and fled and was pursued with 
such ardor that it was impossible to check its flight. 
N"ever had a lost battle been more brilliantly won 
again, and Prince Maurice, overcome with the emo- 
tion of the moment, threw himself on his knees on 
the sand, exclaiming : '' God, what are we human 
creatures to whom Thou hast brought such honor 
and to whom Thou hast vouchsafed such a victory ? " 

Thus ended the memorable battle of July 2, 1600. 
The expedition to Flanders had been of no value to 
the States, as Maurice had predicted. But he had 
proved himself one of the first generals of his time, 
and given new spirit to the republic. At the end 
of July he led his army back to Holland, where they 
were received with enthusiastic demonstrations. 

On July 5, 1601, a year after his defeat, the Arch- 
duke Albert appeared before Ostend and began a 
siege that he fully expected to bring to an end within 
a few months. Certainly he did not dream that this 
insignificant town could hold out against the armies 
of Spain for more than three years. 

By Christmas of that year, indeed, its garrison had 



OSTEND BESIEGED AND DEFENDED 243 

been so reduced and the coming of the looked-for 
reinforcements so delayed that it seemed impossible 
to hold it longer. In this dilemma Sir Francis Vere, 
commandant of the place, resorted to a shrewd arti- 
fice. The drummers were ordered to beat for a 
parley, and a proposal to treat for a surrender of 
the town was made, hostages being exchanged. But 
the commissioners sent by the Archduke were held 
by a variety of cunning devices until two days had 
passed and Christmas morning dawned. 

On that day a great concourse of people gathered 
around the city, the news having spread through the 
neighboring villages that Ostend had agreed to sur- 
render. Outside it was like a provincial fair, three 
thousand peasants and burghers having collected to 
witness the event. The Archduke, in complete 
armor, galloped about, expecting every minute the 
coming of a deputation with the keys of the town. 

Inside the place a different feeling prevailed. 
That night the wind had changed and in the morning 
three Dutch war vessels were seen sailing in, crowded 
with troops. Vere now politely informed the com- 
missioners that the reinforcements he had long ex- 
pected were at hand and therefore he would not 
detain them longer. He had changed his mind 
about giving up the town. The news, making its 
way out, put a sudden end to the festival, while the 
exultant Archduke, furious at being tricked, with- 
drew like a sullen bear to his den. 

One of his efforts had been to cut off supplies 
from the besieged. To do this he had sunk baskets 
of wickerwork, known as sausages, and filled with 
bricks and sand, in the narrow channel, making foun- 



244 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

dations on which he could erect batteries. On the 
other side of the harbor, however, was a second chan- 
nel, the Gullet, which could not be easily closed, the 
tides rushing through it broad, deep and swift. The 
best he could do here was to sink ^^ sausages " along 
its outer edge and erect batteries to play upon the 
coming and going of ships. 

These proved of little effect. Transports came in 
as regularly as if there had been no siege and the 
place was kept fully supplied. So abundant was the 
food that Ostend became the cheapest place in the 
Netherlands, meats and poultry being plentiful, 
while good French claret sold for two stivers the 
quart. 

On January 7, 1602, a night assault was made, 
following a brisk cannonade that had continued all 
day long. The night was pitch dark and at seven the 
attack began, with sounds of drum and trumpet and 
the fierce yells of the charging troops. Later, when 
the tide was fully out, two thousand men rushed 
through the bed of the old harbor and fiercely assailed 
the works on that side. 

Sir Francis, however, was well aware of what was 
coming and was fully prepared for the charge. Sud- 
denly the whole place was lighted up, pine torches, 
tar barrels and other fuel being kindled and burning 
fiercely. A hot fire of artillery and musketry fol- 
lowed, spreading death through the assailing ranks, 
which, as they came nearer, were met with pike and 
dagger and hurled down the slope. For two hours 
the assault continued. Meanwhile the tide was ris- 
ing, and the enemy in danger of being cut off. Some 
of them were already wading back when Vere ordered 



OSTEND BESIEGED AND DEFENDED 245 

the opening of the flood-gates and the waters poured 
wildly in. In a panic of fear the assailants now 
rushed back. It was too late. They were caught 
by the contending waters and great numbers of them 
drowned. In other parts of the town a like slaughter 
followed, the whole number of killed and drowned 
in this futile attempt being reckoned at two thou- 
sand, while the garrison escaped with little loss. 

During the whole of 1602 the siege continued, the 
works of the besiegers creeping nearer and nearer. 
But all efforts to close the Gullet proved futile and 
on the last day of the year a fleet of transports arrived 
carrying whole droves of beeves and flocks of sheep, 
the ships sailing in despite all the efforts of the 
Spanish to check them with their batteries. And 
meanwhile the besieged, fearing that the Gullet 
might in time be closed, were busy in efforts to 
open a new channel into the harbor. In this work 
of digging and delving on each side the loss of life 
was great, but it went on without cessation. 

The greatest loss suffered by the besieged was on 
April 13, 1603, after a hurricane which raged so 
fiercely that no soldier or sailor could keep his feet, 
and the town and its surroundings were deluged. 
The wind fell at nightfall, the Spaniards taking 
advantage of the opportunity to attack the outlying 
works, some of which they carried, turning their 
guns upon the town. 

Another leader soon after took charge of the siege. 
The Marquis Spinola, a wealthy Italian noble, offered 
to supply the money to continue the siege. He was 
not a soldier, had no experience in war, but was to 
prove that he was born for camp and siege, since he 



246 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

led the armies of the Archduke with great ability 
during the following years. He made his appear- 
ance in the camp in October, 1603, and quickly 
showed that he was as ready to bear hardship and 
expose his life as any veteran in the ranks. He 
changed the method of attack, depending chiefly 
upon delving and assaults, in the effort to win the 
works of the place, which was step by step accom- 
plished. 

And so the following autumn, winter and spring 
passed on and a new September, that of 1604, came. 
Spinola had now gained the whole town except the 
part known as Little Troy. Prince Maurice had it 
then in view to come to the rescue, but the weather 
proved so wet and the roads so deep in mire that the 
march of an army was impossible and surrender be- 
came inevitable. The terms were signed September 
20, the garrison being permitted to march out arms 
in hand and take four cannon, but no powder, while 
prisoners on each side were to be set free. 

Thus three thousand men marched out of Little 
Troy with the honors of war, the officers being enter- 
tained by Spinola at a splendid banquet. They had 
well earned it, for they had held the place for two 
years and seventy-seven days, more than a hundred 
thousand men having lost their lives in the siege and 
defence of that bank of sand, while eight millions of 
florins had been expended. All that the victors won 
was a ruin. Immunities were offered to all who 
would remain there, but beyond a blacksmith and 
his paramour, to whom entrance into Zealand was 
denied, not a human being would remain, and all 
that Spain had won was a heap of ruins and rubbish. 



OSTEND BESIEGED AND DEFENDED 247 

The war, which had continued without intermis- 
sion for forty years, was now near its end. During 
the siege of Ostend there were few encounters in the 
field, and those that followed between Maurice and 
Spinola proved of little effect. It was high time for 
the struggle to end, and diplomacy now replaced war. 
The negotiations stretched drearily on for more than 
two years, ending in 1609 in a twelve-year truce in 
which the republic gained all its points, its inde- 
pendence being acknowledged, open Catholic worship 
interdicted and its foreign trade secured. 

The new republic, however, included only seven 
States of the Netherlands, the remaining ten — the 
later Belgium — remaining under the rule of Spain. 
The persecution of Protestants, however, was at an 
end, this original cause of the war ceasing to exist. 



CHAPTEK XXX 

THE DUTCH WIN" EMPIRE ON THE SEA 

We have so far been chiefly concerned with the ex- 
ploits of the Dutch republic on land. Something 
must now be said of its prowess at sea. For centuries 
the daring mariners of Holland and Zealand had 
swept the seas in pursuit of fish and had shown their 
daring in exploration. A notable example was that 
of Willem Barcntz, who in 1594 sought to reach 
China by way of the Arctic Ocean, and attained the 
high latitude of 78° north. Their main explorations, 
however, were in voyages to the East Indies and to 
America. In the latter they subsequently founded 
the colonies of New Netherland and the city of New 
Amsterdam, the later New York. 

We are here concerned chiefly with their warlike 
exploits at sea, in which they showed themselves 
vastly superior to their Spanish foes. The efficient 
service which they rendered England in the battle 
with the Armada has already been described, but 
there are later examples of seamanship to be told. 
Their vessels were small, but stoutly built and capa- 
ble of outsailing the large but clumsy galleys and 
galleons of Spain. And these were manned by a race 
of daring seamen who were capable of the most fear- 
less feats of naval warfare. 

The treasure ships of Spain, on their way home 
from America or the Indies, were fair spoil for the 
mariners of Holland, and in 1602 a great Portuguese 
carrack, richly laden and strongly armed, was at- 
tacked off the coast of St. Helena by a squadron of 
the little craft of Holland and overcome, a valuable 
248 



DUTCH WIN EMPIRE ON SEA 249 

booty being divided between the victors. Nearer 
home they were equally audacious and skilful and 
played havoc with the warships of Spain. 

The bold seamen of Holland had little respect for 
the lumbering galleys of Spain, the chief motive 
power of which was the oars of galley slaves. They, 
indeed, at times tried their hands at galley building, 
and one of these, built by them at Dort, had been 
rowed past the Spanish forts on the Scheldt, reaching 
the wharves of Antwerp, where the Dutch sailors 
boarded and captured a Spanish galley of the largest 
size, with seven smaller vessels, and bore them in 
triumph down the river, their bugles playing as they 
went the patriotic air of ^' William of Nassau.'^ 

Frederick Spinola, brother to the Marquis Spinola 
mentioned in the last chapter, had been sailing as a 
privateer from the port of Sluys and doing much 
damage to the merchant ships of Holland. In 1602 
he obtained permission to man and equip at his own 
expense eight great galleys, built for the royal navy of 
Spain, in return for which all booty won was to be his. 

In early autumn he set sail with this strong 
squadron for Flanders, but misfortune awaited him. 
Off the Portuguese coast he was met by a squadron 
of English frigates, and in the fight that followed 
two of the galleys were lost. More might have gone, 
but just then a great carrack from India, laden 
with rich merchandise, came within view, and the 
frigates set sail for this more promising prize, giving 
Spinola an opportunity to escape. 

On October 3 the galleys entered the Straits of 
Dover, where they were sighted by the Dutch war- 
ships Tiger and Pelican. These gave notice to three 



250 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

other Dutch galleots under Admiral Kent. Night 
fell. The wind had vanished. The galleys rowed on. 
It was hoped to reach the harbor of Sluys under 
cover of darkness. But with the rising of the moon 
came a steady breeze, filling the sails of the Dutch 
vessels and robbing the galleys of their advantage. 
The sea-fight that followed went all one way. 
Fiercely attacked and rammed by the iron prows 
of the galleots, two of Spinola's ships were sent to the 
bottom with all on board. Two more were driven 
into the shallows near Gravelines and there went to 
pieces. A fifth was wrecked near Calais, and only 
the one bearing Spinola reached port at Dunkirk, 
where the discomfited admiral had a dismal story 
to tell. In this fight about three thousand Spaniards 
lost their lives, while very few Hollanders were killed. 
Despite this defeat Spinola was not dismayed. 
Eeaching Sluys, he spent the winter in building new 
galleys. On May 25, 1603, a Dutch war- vessel, pass- 
ing the Gulf of Sluys, saw signs of mischief there, 
and gave warning to Admiral de Moor, commander of 
the blockading squadron. De Moor's squadron con- 
sisted of four small ships, but he had in addition the 
support of a famous vessel called the Black Galley of 
Zealand, under Captain Jacob Michelzoon. Out 
from the harbor slowly came the galleys, eight in all, 
and of the largest size, each manned by two hundred 
soldiers and rowed by a large number of galley slaves. 
Four smaller vessels followed these great galleys, 
which came gliding over the smooth waters upon the 
little Dutch fleet, where it lay motionless for want of 
wind. The Black Galley, manned by rowers, was the 
only one capable of moving, and upon this rushed 



DUTCH WIN EMPIRE ON SEA 251 

two of the Spanish ships, rowed by five hundred men. 
They struck the Black Galley on its opposite sides, 
burying their iron prows deep into its timbers. 

But these were of tough wood, and the musketeers 
on board, though only thirty-six against four hun- 
dred, were of far tougher material for a sea fight than 
Spinola's land soldiers. Great as was the dispropor- 
tion in numbers, the Zealanders soon showed the 
stuff that was in them. They repelled every attempt 
to board their vessel. They swept with broadsides 
the benches of chained rowers. They clambered 
like cats upon the bowsprits of the Spanish ships, 
laying lustily about them with cutlass and hand- 
spike. Captain Michelzoon was killed and Lieuten- 
ant Hart wounded, but the valiant Hart swore that 
he would blow up the ship with his own hands rather 
than surrender. In the end the Zealanders broke off 
the enemy's bowsprits by main strength and floated 
free, the Spaniards glad enough to be clear from 
such an antagonist. 

The galleot of Captain Lozier was attacked in 
the same way by four of the galleys, but here, too, the 
Dutch ship broke loose after a sharp contest, with 
the broken iron bowsprits in her sides. De Moor's 
ship was attacked by three galleys, but he met them 
with cannonade and musketry until they were glad 
to sheer off. A general attack was now made upon 
the Black Galley and that stout ship was in imminent 
danger. Captain Lozier alone was near enough to 
give her assistance, the other vessels lying becalmed 
and helpless at a distance. 

The affair ended when Spinola, conspicuous from 
his armor and bravely exposing himself, was struck 



252 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

by a ball from the Black Galley and hurled dead to 
the deck. At the same time a gentle breeze began to 
ruffle the waters and the galleys, with blood-stained 
decks and laden with dead and wounded, hastened 
to row back into harbor before the growing breeze 
should bring others of these sturdy antagonists 
against them. Thus ended the career of Frederick 
Spinola and thus ended the service of his twelve 
ships and three thousand men, beaten by a few Dutch 
vessels manned by not more than a tenth of their 
number. Earely at sea has there been a victory 
against such a disproportion of force. 

Other exploits of this character might be told, but 
we shall confine ourselves to a brief account of one 
that took place in the harbor of Gibraltar in 1607. 
Here lay a Spanish war fleet comprising many large 
galleons and other vessels, and here on the morning 
of April 25 came a Dutch fleet under the command 
of Admiral von Heemskirk, so much smaller in size 
that the Spanish admiral laughed at the suggestion 
that these puny vessels had come to offer him battle. 

Heemskirk, heading towards the flagship of the 
Spanish admiral, gave orders to his gunners not to 
fire until the vessels had struck each other. '^ Wait 
till you hear it crack,'^ he said. It was like Prescott's 
"Don't fire till you see the whites of their eyes." 
The brave Heemskirk died before the broadside was 
fired, struck by a ball from the Spaniard's deck. 

We have space to say no more than that, after a 
strenuous fight, the Spaniards were utterly and dis- 
astrously beaten. A hopeless panic seized them as 
the battle went on, and, when it ended, all of the great 
galleons were sunk or burned and several of the 



DUTCH WIN EMPIRE ON SEA 253 

lesser ones were destroyed. Near sunset the St 
Augustine sent up a white flag, but in the fierceness 
of the fight no one saw it and the men from the 
Eolus and Tiger rushed together upon her deck. 

A frightful butchery followed, no quarter being 
given. Even those who threw themselves overboard 
were pursued in boats and slain. As for the fleet, it 
was entirely destroyed, not a ship being left. But of 
the Hollanders not a ship had been lost and only 
about one hundred seamen were killed. 

It was not alone in the western seas that the 
mariners of the Netherlands made their mark. They 
followed the Portuguese to the Indies, fought there 
for the privilege of trade, and when Admiral Men- 
doza sailed to Java with a strong fleet to punish its 
native rulers for daring to trade with others than 
Catholics, he was defeated by five Dutch trading 
vessels under a skipper named Wolfert Hermann. 

This was the beginning of many sea-fights in the 
eastern waters, the outcome being to give the Dutch 
control of the spice islands, which they have ever 
since held, and from which such great profits have 
been derived. It was not the government of the 
United Provinces that won dominion in these seas. 
That government had enough to do at home and left 
all such distant ventures to private parties, like 
Wolfert Hermann and others, who were quite capable 
of winning new lands for themselves. For this pur- 
pose the Dutch East India Company was formed. 
This, like the later British East India Company, 
grew dominant in that far realm, but it came finally 
under the control of the national government, the 
benefits coming to the people at large. 



CHAPTER XXXI 

THE INDEPENDENCE OF THE PROVINCES 

The period dealt with in previous chapters is that 
of most interest in the history of the Netherlands. 
The three centuries which have followed the truce 
with Spain in 1609 were full of wars and of political 
and economical changes, but so much has already 
been said about wars and sieges that these may be 
dealt with far more briefly, as they present much 
less interesting matter. 

The truce with Spain, which ended in 1621, was 
a period of political controversy, and of religious 
disputes between the Lutherans and Arminians. In 
these Prince Maurice and Barneveldt, the famous 
statesman, took opposite sides. Their hostility ended 
in the arrest of Barneveldt in 1618, a highly unjust 
and unfair trial, and the execution of this great man 
on an unproved charge of high treason. Maurice 
followed him to the grave in 1625 and his brother, 
Frederick Henry, succeeded as stadtholder. He 
proved as successful as his brother had been in his 
contests with Spain, which had been resumed after 
the termination of the truce, important battles being 
fought and cities taken. 

The new stadtholder showed much of the ability 
displayed by his father and brother, and in the end 
freed his country from Spanish control, Spain, in 
the treaty of Miinster of 1648, finally acknowledging 
the United Provinces as an independent nation, 
254 



INDEPENDENCE OF PROVINCES 255 

This included the seven northern provinces, the fif- 
teen southern provinces remaining under the control 
of Spain, and becoming the seat of many later efforts 
of conquest. Thus finally ended a war which had 
continued with little intermission for eighty years. 

During this period the ocean commerce of the 
Netherlands increased enormously, their ships com- 
ing richly laden from their prolific colonies in the 
far East, while trade flourished with the nearby coun- 
tries. To protect their commerce and fisheries a 
fleet of warships and privateers was employed, while 
their Mediterranean merchantmen sailed for protec- 
tion in fleets of thirty or forty sail. 

The greatest peril to this thriving trade came 
from the privateers of Dunkirk, a seaport of France 
near the Belgian border. Despite all that could be 
done to prevent it, the damage done by the swift Dun- 
kirk ships was very great, and spoils by the millions 
were taken into that port. In 1631 Dunkirk in con- 
junction with Spain made an attack in force on 
Zealand, this new armada numbering a hundred 
ships and a large army. But the sea-dogs of Zealand 
lived up to their old reputation and fought off their 
assailants with heavy loss, most of the ships being 
destroyed and 4,000 prisoners taken. The exploits 
of the Dunkirk buccaneers continued until 1646, 
when that city was taken by a land attack with the 
aid of a fleet under Tromp, the most famous of 
Dutch admirals. This put an end to the severe 
annoyance and loss from that nest of robbers. 

Prince Frederick Henry was successful in several 
other quarters, being the victor in various hard- 
fought battles and sieges and winning such power in 



256 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

the republic that his actual authority was equal to 
that of a king. He died in 1647, leaving a son 
William, who became known as William II., Prince 
of Orange, and who died in 1650. His career is of 
interest principally from his marriage with Mary, 
daughter of Charles I. of England, and the birth 
of a son named William who, as a direct descendant 
from the English King, inherited a claim to the 
throne of Great Britain and finally attained it as 
William III. of England. 

During the period with which we are here con- 
cerned the I^etherland republic, small as it was, 
gained a prominent position among the Powers of 
Europe. Its ships traversed all seas, the Hollanders 
becoming the general carriers of the world's trade. 
Amsterdam became a powerful and rich city, the 
Venice of the north and the center of a great com- 
merce. The arts and sciences flourished. Printing, 
though not discovered here, attained a marked de- 
velopment. From Holland came the first optical in- 
struments and the pendulum clock, while the foreign 
news-sheets of Holland, mostly printed in French, 
were sent and read all over the world, as they con- 
tained intelligence that was not allowed to be printed 
elsewhere. 

Intellectual and artistic development was also 
great, and we meet with the names of Erasmus, 
Grotius, Vossius, Huygens, Eubens, Rembrandt, 
Hobbema and many others of fame and ability. 
Expeditions of discovery were sent in various direc- 
tions, their success being shown in the names of 
New Holland, New Zealand, Tasmania, Van Die- 
men's Land and others that indicated the enterprise 



INDEPENDENCE OF PROVINCES 257 

of the Dutch republic at this flourishing era in its 
career. 

The home industries of the provinces, aside from 
their thriving manufactures, were those of the pro- 
lific fisheries, agriculture and horticulture, and in 
regard to the latter there is a famous story to tell, 
that of the era of tulipomania. The great activity 
of the country in so many fields of industry and the 
formation of great trading companies led to active 
speculation, with the frequent losses that are so apt 
to attend it. The stocks of the various enterprises 
were largely dealt in, and great fluctuations in price 
were natural resultants. 

In the autumn of 1636 the cultivation of the tulip 
became the most active field of speculative industry. 
The raising of bulbs and blossoms for garden use 
grew to be a very active industry. New varieties 
were developed and often held at high prices, and 
the meetings of the florists and sale of their produc- 
tions produced a speculative fever which soon spread 
from the florists to the citizens in general. In every 
direction the sale of new bulbs became active, their 
prices rapidly advancing. Moore tells us : " The 
price of tulips rose above that of the most precious 
metals. It is a mistake, however, to suppose that 
the high prices paid for bulbs — amounting in some 
instances to 2,500, and even 4,000 florins — repre- 
sented the estimated value of a root, since these large 
sums often changed hands without any transfer of 
property. Bulbs were bought and sold without even 
being seen — without even being in existence." 

In a single city transactions amounted to over 
ten millions. Large sums of money were made on 
17 



258 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

paper, people of all ranks investing their savings 
in the purchase of bulbs — seen or unseen. This 
speculative excitement soon reached its limit. In 
early February, 1637, a decline set in, prices falling 
as rapidly as they had risen, and thousands of 
people, who had invested their all in tulip bulbs, 
being reduced to beggary. The States-General and 
various town councils suspended payments, and it 
was agreed that upon all prices fixed after November 
only 10 per cent, should be paid. But nothing could 
be done to prevent failures on all sides. In April, 
1637, the tulipomania reached its end, with wide- 
spread loss to multitudes of " get-rich-quick " specu- 
lators. This is the most famous, from the fact that 
only a flower was dealt in, oi the many tidal waves 
of speculation the world has known. 

We have said little of the wars of the period pre- 
ceding the peace of Miinster. It was one in which 
the United Provinces formed an alliance with France 
and vigorous though unsuccessful efforts were made 
to wrest the southern provinces from the hands of 
Spain. This was the era of Martin Harpertszoon 
Tromp, the most famous of Dutch sea lords. Chief 
among his exploits was his battle with a very power- 
ful Spanish fleet, consisting of 67 heavy galleons, 
with 1,700 cannon and 24,000 soldiers and sailors. 
These were attacked by Tromp on October 21, 1639, 
in their place of refuge in the English roadstead 
known as the Downs and, owing to the skill and 
courage of the Dutch captains, were completely de- 
feated, forty of the vessels being sunk or burned, 
fourteen carried off in triumph, and 1,800 prisoners 
taken, while the dead were estimated at over 5,000. 



INDEPENDENCE OF PROVINCES 259 

In this signal victory Tromp lost but one ship and 
one hundred men. The Spanish admiral escaped to 
Dunkirk with ten of his ships under cover of a 
dense fog. 

The close of the war with Spain in 1648 left the 
Provinces only a brief interval of peace, a new war 
breaking out in 1652, this time with England, now 
under the rule of Oliver Cromwell. This was solely 
a naval war, and led to a severe loss to the Dutch 
cause, Tromp receiving a mortal wound in a battle 
on August 10, 1653. Meanwhile the Dutch were 
suffering so severely from the blockade of their ports, 
injury to their fisheries and loss of trade that thou- 
sands were reduced to beggary, the food supply grew 
dangerously small, and money was very difficult to 
obtain. In Amsterdam thousands of houses stood 
vacant, grass grew in the once crowded streets, and 
the want of work was such that " the whole country 
was quite full of beggars." The result was a treaty 
of peace in 1653 in which the republic was obliged to 
accept humiliating terms. 



CHAPTEE XXXII 

THE DUTCH COLONIES IN THE INDIES 

Something has already been said of the great 
enterprise of the Dutch navigators in distant seas 
and of the discoveries made by them, but this matter 
is of sufficient importance to give it fuller attention 
and to describe the activities of Holland as a coloniz- 
ing country. Its intrepid seamen made their way 
through unknown seas in the far east and west, took 
possession of many rich ocean islands, and built for 
their country a great and prosperous colonial 
dominion. 

Their voyages of discovery lay in all directions. 
They were among the first to penetrate the frozen 
north, making daring expeditions into the Arctic 
seas. One of the best known of these was that of 
Henry or Hendrik Hudson, a man of British birth, 
and whose first expedition sailed from London. It 
reached the high northern latitude of 80°. He after- 
wards entered the service of the Dutch East India 
Company, and with a Dutch ship and a Dutch crew 
discovered in 1609 the New York river still known 
by his name, on the banks of which a thriving colony 
of the Netherlands republic was founded. In the fol- 
lowing year he reached and explored Hudson Bay, 
where he was left to perish by his mutinous crew. 
The Dutch navigators were alive to the opportunity 
of profit, the settlers of New Netherland being en- 
gaged in the fur trade, while their expeditions to the 
260 



DUTCH COLONIES IN INDIES 261 

north led to a prospeTous whaling industry, the seas 
around Spitzbergen being the chief field of this 
occupation. 

Abel Tasman emulated these northern navigators, 
being sent to make voyages of discovery in the South 
Seas. Here he discovered Van Diemen's Land, thus 
called in honor of his patron, but vs^hich has since 
been named Tasmania, in honor of its discoverer. 
His voyages were made in 1642 and 1644 and were 
prolific in important discoveries, the most signal 
of these being the ocean continent of Australia, 
named by him New Holland. New Zealand was an- 
other of his important finds, and many smaller 
islands were reached by him in the island-studded 
South Sea. 

Other discoveries were made by Dutch navigators 
in this prolific field, and a valuable group of islands, 
commonly known as the Moluccas, or " Spice 
Islands/' became and have since remained posses- 
sions of the Netherlands. In winning dominion in 
these seas the Netherlands republic came into active 
contest with the Portuguese, the original discoverers 
of the East Indies, and the conflicts of the Dutch 
upon the nearby seas were rivalled by engagements 
in those distant regions. 

Three nations were long in contest for possession 
in those eastern seas, the Portuguese being followed 
by the Dutch and British, the first of these being 
devoted largely to conquest and religious prosely- 
tism, the two others more to the development of 
commerce. 

The first Dutch vessel sailed into these seas in 
1596, after the close of the era of persecution, and a 



262 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

powerful trading association, the Dutch East India 
Company, was organized in 1602, the British East 
India Company being formed about the same time. 
The contests in that region, then, were those of rival 
trading companies instead of hostile nations, though 
in both cases the national interest was strongly 
enlisted. 

The warfare between these enterprising organiza- 
tions of merchants was devoted in general to the 
possession of the great island group lying between 
southwestern Asia and northern Australia, and in 
this the enterprising seamen of Holland proved vic- 
torious. By 1624 the British had been compelled to 
withdraw their factories, or trading stations, from 
nearly all the islands of the Malay archipelago. 
Thus shut out from the trade of the islands, they 
began to form settlements on the coast of India, 
from which in the end they were to drive all 
competitors. 

The Portuguese and Dutch also came into active 
rivalry. One of their fields was Japan, which be- 
came the arena of an active trade contest between 
these nations. The efforts of the Portuguese to in- 
troduce Christianity led in 1624 to a prohibition of 
religious proselytism on the part of Japan, and in 
1638 the country was definitely closed against Por- 
tugal and its religion. Japan now adopted a rigid 
system of isolation. No foreign vessel was allowed to 
enter a Japanese harbor, except those of the Dutch, 
which were permitted to call annually at the 
small island of Deshima and bring in cargoes of 
those European goods which the islanders had 
learned to crave. The restrictions were severe, but 



DUTCH COLONIES IN INDIES 263 

the merchants of Amsterdam submitted to humilia- 
tion in view of the profit to be gained from the proud 
islanders. 

About 1640 a Dutch trading settlement was made 
on the island of Formosa, where it conducted a trade 
with China in silk, lacquer work, carpets, silver, and 
other goods. But the trade with Japan and Formosa 
proved less lucrative than had been expected, and 
the attention of the Company was diverted to the 
more important field of Sumatra, Java, Borneo, and 
the group of smaller spice-producing islands in this 
fertile archipelago. 

This splendid group of islands became the property 
of the East India Company, which successfully 
drove off all competitors and founded there a richly 
lucrative field of trade. Batavia, founded on the 
northwest coast of Java by John Pieterzen Coen, the 
colonial governor, in 1619, became its capital, and 
grew to be an important center of the island trade. 

Twenty years later, in 1636, Anthony van Diemen, 
an able administrator, was appointed governor. Coen 
had proved a man of ability, and Van Diemen was 
an equally vigorous administrator, one who greatly 
extended the possessions of the Company and firmly 
established its power in the Moluccas. 

Van Diemen especially directed his efforts against 
Malacca, the capital of the Malay Peninsula, which 
had long been the Portuguese stronghold in the East 
and the center of their trade. Hither Hindus, 
Chinese, Arabs, Siamese and others brought their 
wares and here a profitable trade had been built up. 
The possession of this stronghold became of leading 
interest to the Dutch, who made an attack on it in 



264 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

1606, and on yarious later occasions sought its 
capture. Against it Van Diemen sent an expedition 
and a siege was begun in the spring of 1640. It was 
strongly defended^ but fell in January, 1641. This 
victory was the last needed to expel the Portuguese 
from the archipelago, and added greatly to the stand- 
ing of the Dutch East India Company. 

Another important conquest had been made, that 
of the large and rich island of Ceylon, which was 
also under Portuguese rule, and was a prize amply 
worthy of a hard struggle. It was a center of trade 
in the valuable wares of India and a mart of com- 
merce which the energetic Van Diemen ardently 
coveted. From 1636 the ships of the Company 
called there and established factories on its shores, 
and in 1638 a small fleet attacked the Portuguese 
settlements, aided by Eajah Singha, the ruler of 
Kandy. Two years of struggle gave the Dutch the 
possession of the principal Portuguese stations on 
the island, and vastly increased their influence in 
those waters. In June, 1641, a ten years' truce was 
concluded with Portugal, and the long contest with 
that country came to an end. 

Van Diemen died in 1645. He had developed 
a broad field of Dutch commerce, extending from the 
southern coasts of India and Indo- China over the 
Malay Archipelago, embracing the western coast of 
New Guinea and reaching to the shores of the newly 
discovered Australia — Tasman's New Holland. 
Batavia was the capital of this broad realm of trade, 
and its two able governors, Coen and Van Diemen, 
had made it an important and powerful center of the 
Dutch East India dominion. It was strongly forti- 



DUTCH COLONIES IN INDIES 265 

fied, and grew to resemble a European city trans- 
ported to the eastern tropics. 

The population was chiefly of Javanese and 
Chinese, the ruling Dutch power being sustained 
by a few officials and soldiers and a small number 
of colonists. These were not permanent settlers. 
Their purpose was to gain money as rapidly as pos- 
sible and return to Europe for its enjoyment. They 
had the rivalry of the Chinese and the despotism 
of the Company's trading agents to contend with, 
and this did not encourage the development of a 
European colony. 

What the directors of the Company sought was 
rich dividends, and these the capable Van Diemen 
supplied them. The East Indiamen habitually 
reached port with costly freights of spices and other 
tropical products, commanding profitable prices in 
Europe and paying the original members of the 
Company from 25 to as high as 50 per cent, on their 
outlay, while the shares of the Company advanced 
to 500 per cent. The charter of the association, how- 
ever, was near its termination and strong efforts 
were made in the Netherlands to prevent its renewal 
and open this gold mine of trade to the general sea- 
going community. As a result the charter was re- 
newed only for annual periods, at one time for only 
six weeks. But in 1647 a new charter for twenty-five 
years was granted and the nabobs of the Company 
breathed freely once more. The directors were placed 
under a fixed salary, and an accounting had to be 
made every four years to the States-General. In 
addition to this far eastern possession, a Dutch colony 
had also been planted in South Africa, at the Cape 



266 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

of Good Hope. Beginning in the sixteenth century, 
this gradually grew into the Boer settlement which 
occupied so prominent a place in the closing decades 
of the nineteenth century. Unlike the East India 
settlements, this attracted numbers of farmers, who 
founded a permanent colony, developing eventually 
an independent state. 

To return to the settlements in the north Pacific, 
some special attention needs to be given to the inter- 
esting group of the Moluccas, which, with the large 
islands of Java, Sumatra, Borneo and Xew Guinea, 
became the site of the chief Dutch holdings in those 
waters. The Moluccas are of interest as being the 
most important fields for the growth of spices, in- 
cluding the clove, nutmeg, mace, pepper, and other 
favorite condiments, which the Dutch traders have 
for centuries supplied to Europe. 

West of these " Spice Islands ^^ lies the large island 
of Celebes, also a spice producer and long in Dutch 
possession. To the east lies J^ew Guinea, while north 
and south are the Philippine archipelago and Timor. 
The term Moluccas was originally applied by the 
Portuguese to a group of small islands, Ternate, 
Tidor, etc., lying west of Jilolo; but it was after- 
wards extended to include all the small spice-growing 
islands of these seas ; the whole, with parts of Celebes 
and ^ew Guinea, forming the three Dutch residen- 
cies of Ternate, Amboyna and Banda. 

The Dutch control of these islands has been op- 
pressive to the natives. The spices spoken of are 
indigenous to the whole group, but are now cultivated 
only in Amboyna and the Banda group, having been 
extirpated by the Dutch government from the other 



DUTCH COLONIES IN INDIES 267 

islands with a view of monopolizing the spice trade. 
This rooting np of the clove plantations in the other 
islands has been a source of destitution to the natives, 
a result which the government has not let stand in 
the way of its plan of keeping up the prices, even 
going so far in this as to punish and in cases exter- 
minate rebellious natives. 

As for the trade of the East India Company, it 
embraced in time a vast variety of products, coming 
from Asia and the Pacific islands. Among these 
may be named the gums, balsams, perfumes, and 
coffee of Arabia; the rich fabrics, indigo, lacquer, 
opium, ginger, etc., from the dominion of the Great 
Mogul ; the cinnamon and pepper from Malabar ; the 
cotton goods and precious stones from Coromandel ; 
the silken stuffs and other treasures of Bengal; the 
varied rich goods of Malacca ; the cinnamon and ivory 
of Ceylon ; the fine pepper of Java and Sumatra, and 
the cloves and nutmegs of the Moluccas. 

The growth of the last two products, as above 
said, was vigorously restricted. The nutmeg was 
allowed to grow only on Amboyna and the clove only 
on Banda. Great pains were taken to prevent 
the growth of the clove plant elsewhere, it being 
destroyed annually wherever it appeared on the re- 
maining islands. In the same manner Ternate and 
Tidor, with the other "little Moluccas,'^ were con- 
fined to the tortoise trade, the small princes of these 
being paid annually to destroy the spice trees. Occa- 
sionally, in spite of all efforts, the production of 
cloves gained headway on other islands, and one 
governor, Schagen, went so far as to refuse to destroy 
the trees, on the ground that this would rob the poor 



268 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

natives of their chief means of living. On the 
whole, however, the spice monopoly was vigorously 
maintained, the profits of the shareholders outweigh- 
ing all consideration of the well-being of the natives. 

It is well to say that the possession of these rich 
islands by the Dutch was not undisputed. Especially 
during the wars in Europe between England and the 
Netherlands victorious raids were made upon the 
island settlements. There were also outbreaks of 
the natives, in some cases difficult to overcome. But 
with all this, Holland clung with great energy to her 
possessions in the eastern seas, and still retains 
them after many centuries of ownership, having 
outlived every effort to deprive her of her island 
colonies, with the exception of Ceylon. Malacca, 
her mainland possession, has been in British posses- 
sion since 1824. 

The East India Company did not stand alone. 
There was also a West India Company, as eager in 
its way for profits, but much less successful. It 
failed to find so rich a field for its money-making 
proclivities. The charter of this company was 
granted June 3, 1621. It was given a monopoly 
of the trade of the Netherlands with the west African 
coast, and the coast of America and the West India 
Islands for a period of twenty-four years. 

The purpose of these companies was not confined 
to trade. They were also required to annoy and 
injure the colonial possessions of their enemies by 
any means in their power. The West India Company 
quickly came into contact with the Portuguese of 
Brazil, seizing several points along the Brazilian 
coast, though at a large cost in money and effort. 



DUTCH COLONIES IN INDIES 269 

It also took possession of a part of the coast of 
Guiana, and of the islands of Curagao, Saba, and 
St. Thomas. As for its business relations with the 
west coast of Africa, these seemed mainly to consist 
in the carrying of cargoes of slaves for use on its 
American plantations. 

The contest between Portugal and the Netherlands 
ceased in America as it had done in the East with the 
signing of the ten-year truce of 1641 between the 
two countries, each retaining the possessions it then 
held. But the cost of the war and the small returns 
from the trade with Brazil led to the gradual yielding 
of the Dutch Brazilian possessions, which were finally 
all lost. Little profit came also from the African 
holdings, the slave trade, and the islands in the 
Antilles, and the dividends and value of the shares 
of the Company fell off in an alarming degree. The 
Company finally went out of existence as a result 
of bad years in 1672 and 1673, but a new association 
was immediately formed which took over the debt of 
the old one at a great reduction. This had better 
success. It developed a degree of prosperity and 
early in the eighteenth century possessed a large num- 
ber of sugar plantations, worked by 13,000 slaves. 

There had been some prosperity also in the New 
Netherland colony on the Hudson Eiver, a large and 
profitable fur trade with the Indians being developed. 
But the seizure of New Amsterdam by the English in 
1664 put an end to this enterprise, and the posses- 
sions of the Netherlands in the New World were now 
confined to their few islands in the West Indies and 
the province of Dutch Guiana. 



CHAPTER XXXIII 

HOLLAND IN" THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 

The long-drawn-out war with Spain, costly and 
terrible as it had been, ended with the northern 
i^etherlands free and independent, possessing a 
republican form of government and in a state of 
high prosperity. The people of this section of the 
country, under the able leadership of the Prince of 
Orange, had put up a good fight and came out 
winners in every particular, with the exception that 
they were obliged to leave the southern, or Bel- 
gian, part of the country still under the dominion 
of Spain. 

In the last chapter the colonial enterprise of 
Holland in the seventeenth century has been de- 
scribed. In the present one something will be said 
of the home activities and conditions of the United 
Netherlands during the same period. 

Among the seven states of the republic, Holland, 
with its direct outlook upon the sea, its capacious 
ports and active mercantile interests, was the most 
progressive, and so prominent in its industries that 
the whole country has become commonly known 
by its name, though ^^ The Netherlands " continues 
the official title. 

Aside from its foreign commerce, the fisheries of 

Holland were its most active source of emolument. 

Of these the herring and cod fisheries stood at the 

head, and were spoken of as " very powerful means 

270 



HOLLAND IN SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 271 

of subsistence " ; the munber of persons engaged in 
them equalling those engaged in commerce. The 
whale fishery was also actively pursued, about 
12,000 persons being employed in this branch of 
industry. The vessels engaged in this pursuit were 
required to bring the oil and whalebone obtained 
into Dutch ports for sale, and the export of fishing 
apparatus was strictly forbidden, the alert Hol- 
landers proposing to keep this lucrative business as 
fully as possible in their own hands. The ship- 
owners were called " Commissioners of the Green- 
land fishery,'' and were given full control of this 
interest, also of the small trade with the Eskimos 
in tools of various kinds. 

As may be taken for granted, the commercial 
and fishing industries gave rise to much activity in 
the ports of the republic, alike in shipbuilding and 
the making of nets, ropes, anchors and other mari- 
time necessaries. As regards the general manu- 
facturing interests of the country, they were much 
hampered by the restrictions of the old guilds, a 
heritage from the Middle Ages. Raw materials 
were brought into the country from all parts of 
the world and the abundance of shipping gave the 
Netherlander facilities for sending his manufac- 
tured goods to foreign markets, but the ancient 
trade restrictions proved a serious obstacle. Yet, 
on the other side, measures of protection against 
competition from abroad, and even between cities 
of the land, in a measure compensated for these 
restrictions. 

The leading products of manufacture were those 
of cloth, linen and woollen textiles, beer, and various 



272 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

other articles of common use. Large factories, 
however, were rarely to be seen, the industry being 
mainly conducted on a small scale. But visitors 
to the country in that age were struck by the evi- 
dences of activity and prosperity to be seen on every 
side, alike in manufacture and in the enormous 
commercial interests of the province, which gave 
little evidence of being a land lately emerged from 
warfare lasting the greater part of a century. 

As for the religious hostilities which had been 
at the bottom of these long years of war, little 
evidence remained, freedom of worship existing 
everywhere, while Protestantism had branched out 
into a great number and variety of sects. The 
Dutch Eeformed Church was especially privileged, 
while among the sailors, fishermen and tradesmen 
the Mennonite faith was prominent, but toleration 
of religious opinion was common. Temple, an 
observant translator, tells us that '^ No man can 
here complain of pressure on his conscience; of 
being forced to any public profession of his private 
faith; of being restrained from his own manner of 
worship in his house or obliged to any other abroad.'' 
This indicates, even if it somewhat exaggerates, the 
toleration existing, a remarkable change from that 
of the days when men were burned alive in multi- 
tudes for daring to worship as their conscience 
directed. 

Much was written in those days by travellers of 
the conditions existing in Holland, which province 
especially attracted their attention, few of them 
visiting any other of the seven provinces of the 
republic except the neighboring Zealand. The 




THE FISH MARKET 
From the Painting by J. Horemans, 1762, in 



The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 



the Possession of 
New York 



HOLLAND IN SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 273 

country visited was especially notable for its great 
number of canals, its abundant meadows, its long 
stretch of dykes, and other evidences of efforts to 
keep out the encroaching sea. 

The great feature of the country was its cities, 
especially Amsterdam, then with a population of 
150,000, and with splendid canals surrounding it 
in concentric circles, long rows of warehouses, fine 
mansions of its wealthy merchants, handsome 
churches, asylums, and public buildings, and its 
magnificent City Hall, the " eighth wonder of the 
world," this first brought into use in 1655. As one 
author asserts of its mercantile standing: "Who- 
ever has not seen Amsterdam has seen no ships and 
does not know what maritime affairs are.^' 

Haarlem, in its vicinity, had fully recovered from 
the effects of its long siege, had become a seat of 
the beer and linen industries, and possessed a 
flourishing foreign trade. Chief among its attrac- 
tions was St. Bavou's Church, one of the largest in 
Holland and noted for its lofty tower. Its great 
organ has been spoken of as the largest and finest 
ever constructed. Before the church stands a statue 
of Laurens Coster, whom the Hollanders regard as 
the inventor of the art of printing. 

In 1667 a canal was excavated, connecting Haar- 
lem with Leyden, the seat of the most famous siege 
of the Spanish war^ and noted all over Europe for 
its active manufactures of cloth, baize and camlet. 
With a population at that time of 100,000 (much 
larger than at present), it was then esteemed the 
most beautiful city of Europe and praised as being 
among cities " what spring is in the seasons." The 
18 



274 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

University founded here in 1575 by William of 
Orange, as a reward to the citizens for their historic 
'defence against the Spaniards, attracted students 
from all parts of Europe, and counts among its 
graduates numerous scholars of illustrious standing. 

Eotterdam, "the second Venice/' so called from 
its multitude of canals, which is now the busiest 
port in Holland, was then an active mercantile city, 
one of its most important buildings being the Gothic 
Church of St. Lawrence, which has a very large 
organ. It was at the date now under consideration 
notable for its prosperous trade with England and 
its cloth industry. Nearby lay the quiet and ele- 
gant little city of Delft, the seat of manufacture of 
the long famous delft-ware and of prosperous 
breweries. Its town-hall was a picturesque and 
richly-ornamented building. In the same vicinity 
was Gonda, a center of the pipe manufacture, and, 
like Delft, a dwelling place for retired men of 
wealth. This was doubtless due to its reputation 
for healthfulness, it escaping almost entirely the 
pestilence which was often a scourge to Dutch cities 
in the seventeenth century. 

The Hague, long the capital of the Netherlands, 
was at first, from 1250 onward, a hunting lodge of 
the Counts of Holland, and continued of little im- 
portance till the sixteenth century. It became the 
seat of the Supreme Court of Holland in 1527 and 
of the meeting of the States of Holland and the 
States-General, the legislative bodies of the province 
and the republic, in 1584. It was also the place of 
residence of the stadtholders, or viceroys, of whom 
-William the Silent and his descendants were the 



HOLLAND IN SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 276 

most notable. This name^ long applied to the royal 
representative, was given to the head of the republic 
after this was instituted. 

This town, with its canals, its shady avenues of 
lime trees and fine public buildings, and its beauti- 
ful pleasure park known as " The Wood," continues 
the handsomest city in Holland, and at the date now 
under review was a place of great beauty. Its most 
noteworthy buildings were the Gothic Church of 
St. James, of the fourteenth century; the picture 
galleries, with their splendid collections of works by 
native painters ; the museum, town-house, and other 
notable structures. 

Outside the boundaries of Holland, the most im- 
portant city was that of Utrecht, capital of a 
province of the same name, and one of the oldest 
cities of the country, it probably being founded by 
the Eomans. Here was formed the union of the 
northern provinces which led to the republic and here 
a number of important treaties were signed. It is 
notable for its university, founded in 1634; St. 
Martin's Cathedral, founded about 720, and other 
interesting edifices, and had active manufactures. 

Such were the leading cities of Holland and the 
republic, there being many others of minor im- 
portance and some four hundred villages, some with 
large populations, within the province. This was 
a good showing for a country of not more than 
sixty miles in circumference. It was, however, one 
of extraordinary activity as a center of commerce 
and manufacture. 

So much for the cities of Holland. What for the 
people themselves ! The Dutch have long been 



276 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

noted for sturdiness and stolidity, differing widely 
from the more versatile Belgians. They have also 
the qualities of great energy and industry, sturdy 
perseverance, frugality, orderliness, and morality. 
Temple, who was for a time the English ambassador 
to Holland, tells us that the famous Admiral de 
Euyter dressed like an ordinary sea captain, and 
De Witt, the great statesman, was equally simple 
in attire and mode of life. He divides the people 
into five classes : peasants, marines, merchants, men 
of wealth, and noblemen and officers. The first 
of these he speaks of as diligent but dull, simple 
and temperate, and content with little food. The 
marines were far more rough and stern, men of 
few words and of few wants, but toughened by their 
mode of life, and valiant, especially in defence. The 
mercantile class were more polished in demeanor, 
and were energetic in business, but not to be closely 
relied upon in a matter of trade. 

The class living on their wealth, retired tradesmen 
or sons of former merchants, were men of education 
and standing, who furnished the necessary supply 
of magistrates. The final class, that of noblemen, 
stood but little above the magistrates, and was 
small in number, the long war having extirpated 
many whole families. It was the custom of these 
to imitate in manners and mode of life the French 
nobility, and the officers and sons of wealthy mer- 
chants had often the same inclination. 

A common characteristic of the INetherland people 
was their strong love of home and attachment to 
family and friends. Some observers speak of a 
lack of control over their children, and others of 



HOLLAND IN SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 277 

the independence of the servants, who refused to 
submit to the whim and caprice of their employers. 
As for the mistress of the house, she bore the sceptre 
in her own dominion, binding husband and all to 
strict rules of neatness and orderliness, and did 
not hesitate to meddle in affairs of state when any 
number of her family sought appointment to office. 
In his private life the Dutch householder would not 
permit any interference from the authorities, hold- 
ing that his house was his castle, within which no 
one had rights but himself and family. 

The Dutch house of that period was a peculiar 
structure, with its gables in the shape of steps. 
It grew steadily narrower and higher as time went 
on, and put on more lavish decoration of figures 
and ornaments. The garden, often originally a 
bleaching ground, was finely adorned with flowers 
and shrubs, hedges cut into figures, little foun- 
tains, statues, and the like adornment, white sand 
and gravel being arranged in the form of mosaic 
work. Great care was taken, within and without the 
house, to have everything spotlessly clean. Scrub- 
bing and washing, polishing of door knobs and 
knockers, rubbing up of metal-work and furniture, 
went on so interminably that dusters and wash- 
pails, brooms and mops, seemed the bom accessories 
of the Dutch housewife. 

The front room was the important apartment of 
the city house, the one in which the family lived 
chiefly, though in case this was used as a place of 
business, the little office back became the living- 
room. White sand covered all bare floors, and this 
was brushed into mathematical figures. Rooms of 



278 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

state, these usually on the second floor, were com- 
monly supplied with costly furniture, fine glassware, 
mirrors, chests and cabinets, and often had valuable 
paintings on the walls, the work of Dutch masters. 
Over all this adornment the house mistress kept 
strict guard, and a careless visitor was not permitted 
to cross the threshold without first removing his 
boots or shoes. 

As for these ultra careful householders, however, 
the cleanliness was limited in scope. While the 
needs of the house were carefully attended to, those 
of the person, and frequently of the clothing, were 
sadly neglected. Even in the highest circles an 
aversion to water was conmion, this extending to the 
hands and face, which often were left for days with- 
out cleansing. As for the covered parts of the body, 
these would frequently go unwashed for weeks or 
months. The hair was similarly neglected, and this 
filthiness of body and apparel was common to men 
and women alike, the latter being often the greater 
sinners in this respect. "Dirty as an eeV' was a 
common verdict as applied to the Hollander of that 
period, the "shining counters'^ being often com- 
pared with the "foul faces.^' 

While the people were temperate, as a rule, in 
eating and drinking, this was not the case at ban- 
quets or feasts, where they made up by immoderate 
gourmandizing for their ordinary abstinence. The 
most common drink was beer, usually "smalP' or 
" thin " beer, though they did not dislike a stronger 
brew. The Delft beer had the highest reputation, 
but several other cities had extensive breweries. 
Tea, appearing in the first part of the seventeenth 



HOLLAND IN SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 279 

century at the apothecary shops as a cure ''for all 
sickness and disease/' came into use as an ordinary 
beverage about 1660. Tobacco also began to be 
used by men early in the century, and the long 
Gonda pipe was in common use by its middle 
period. This habit was not much practised at 
home, " tobacco houses " coming into favor. Snuff 
taking also became common, alike for men and 
women, and the snuff-box was in ordinary request. 

As for attire, the old national dress was retained 
only by the country people, while captains and 
sailors clung to the old-time baggy breeches. The 
dweller in the city began to imitate the kind of dress 
goods used by the wealthy, even while adhering to 
the tasteless style of his forefathers. But the in- 
fluence of French styles of dress made its way more 
and more among the well-to-do, and costliness and 
luxury in apparel became common among those able 
to ape these foreign fashions. 

During this period science, art and literature 
attained an important development. Leyden Uni- 
versity was especially active in the teaching of 
classical and theological studies. Eene Descartes, 
one of the foremost of the world's philosophers, 
though of French birth, dwelt in Holland from 
1629 to 1649, and became the center of a philoso- 
phical and scientific movement which spread widely 
throughout the land. He wandered from city to 
city, spread his views in various books in the Dutch 
language, and his works on mathematics, chemistry, 
and other subjects gave new vitality to science in 
Holland. 

Hugo Grotius, one of the most eminent scholars 



280 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

of his time, was forced to spend a great part of his 
life outside his native country. When Bameveldt 
was executed, Grotius, his friend and supporter, was 
condemned to perpetual imprisonment. His wife 
contrived his escape by an ingenious stratagem, he 
being taken out of prison in a trunk, but he was 
never pardoned, and spent his remaining life in 
France and Sweden, where he produced various 
notable works. 

Another famous writer and philosopher of the 
same period was Benedict Spinoza, his most im- 
portant work being a treatise entitled, " Ethics 
Demonstrated by a Geometrical Method.'' Hallam 
speaks of him as '^ a reasoning machine," and Goethe 
was enraptured by his ^' Ethics." 

In general literature Vondel stands at the head 
of all Dutch writers, his works including dramas 
of high standard and " Lucifer," a tragedy, which 
has been compared with Milton's " Paradise Lost." 
He was also a great lyrical poet and is regarded 
as the national poet of Holland. Like praise can- 
not be given to Jakob Cats, a voluminous poetical 
writer, who is still highly esteemed by his country- 
men, though looked upon by foreign critics as dull 
and prosaic. Hallam says : " No one was more 
read than Father Cats, as his people call him; but 
he is often trifling and monotonous." 

Other authors of whom we may speak are the 
dramatist Yos, and the poets Huygens and Heinsius. 
A second Huygens (Christian) stands at a lofty 
level, as the greatest of Dutch scientists, and among 
the greatest in all Europe during his period. His 
fame rests on his lofty standing as an astronomer 



HOLLAND IN SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 281 

and geometer and on his admirable telescopic and 
other inventions, he vying with his contemporary 
Newton in ability. 

It was in the field of art, however, that the Hol- 
land of that day reached its highest distinction, 
two of its painters, Kembrandt and Kubens, stand- 
ing high among the " Old Masters " of the world's 
gallery. There were many of lesser fame, but of 
high ability in interpreting the home life of Hol- 
land. Among them may be mentioned Franz Hals, 
Wouvermann, Euysdael, Maes, Hobbema, Ostade, 
and Yelde, as prominent among the brilliant coterie. 
Of sculptors the man of highest fame was Verhulst, 
who produced admirable monuments to Tromp, De 
Ruyter, and various other worthies of his time. 

The works of Holland's painters, devoted to 
Dutch interiors and genre work in various fields, 
found a ready market among their admiring 
countrymen, the man of wealth and the man of 
moderate means alike seeking to decorate their 
homes with art works within their means. Every 
family of consequence had its picture gallery, and 
there was hardly a governmental body or guild 
which did not adorn its halls with portraits of 
members of more or less moment. Art works of 
importance were produced in great numbers and 
were esteemed by their owners as valuable parts of 
their estates. The flourishing state of business 
made money plentiful and there has been no other 
time in Dutch history when the fine arts met with 
equal encouragement and reward. 



CHAPTER XXXIV 

WARS WITH ENGLAND AND FRANCE 

For ten years after the close of the English war 
the United Provinces were in a thriving condition. 
Their commerce steadily increased, their home in- 
dustries developed, and their diplomatic interests 
were in the hands of an able statesman, John de 
Witt, a brilliant successor to the renowned Barne- 
veldt. The young Prince of Orange was growing 
up, feeble and sickly in body, but mentally vigorous, 
and already displaying some of the powers that 
had given luster to the earlier representatives of his 
family. As William III. a great career lay before 
him. 

Spain and France let the republic alone during 
these years, but England, its commercial rival in 
all seas, grew hostile and began to interfere with 
Dutch interests and trade. A marked example of 
this feeling was displayed when, in 1664, the Duke 
of York, the King's brother, sent a squadron of war- 
ships across the Atlantic and took possession of New 
Amsterdam, the Dutch colony at the mouth of the 
Hudson Eiver. The same hostile sentiment was 
manifested at home. English war-vessels began to 
seize Dutch merchantmen, and it was not long be- 
fore a naval war began, under the efficient manage- 
ment of De Witt. Both sides had able admirals, 
those of the Dutch republic including Cornells 
Tromp, son of a famous father, Michael de Ruyter, 
282 




By Permission of Franz Hanfstaengl, M 



ADMIRAL DE RUYTER 
By Fran3 Hals 



WARS WITH ENGLAND AND FRANCE 283 

another seaman of high repute, and other skilful 
leaders. 

The niost important event of the war was a naval 
battle in June, 1666, which lasted four days and is 
classed as the most murderous in the history of 
ocean warfare. The English fleet, under Monk and 
Prince Rupert, was attacked by the Dutch, under 
De Ruyter and Tromp, and the English Channel 
was the scene of this great contest. 

The first day's fight was one of very large losses 
on both sides. On the second day De Ruyter broke 
through the British line, destroying its ships until 
only twenty-eight were left. Reinforced by Prince 
Rupert, the English renewed the battle, which con- 
tinued for two days more, the fourth day's fight 
being so fierce and bloody that the very sea ran red 
and the heavens were darkened by smoke from 
burning ships. For" a short period the Dutch fleet 
was in danger. Then, from De Ruyter's flag-ship, 
the blood-red flag, signal of a general attack, was 
flown, and soon the British line was broken and its 
ships in wild flight. Only the coming of a dense 
fog saved them from utter destruction. Back in 
triumph sailed the fleet of the Provinces, brilliant 
with flags, and bringing in six captured ships and 
3,000 prisoners. A day of thanksgiving in the 
Netherlands followed this signal victory. On July 
25, however, the Dutch fleet was defeated, with 
heavy loss. In the following year De Ruyter sailed 
up the Thames nearly to Gravesend and destroyed 
a considerable number of British ships, striking 
terror into the heart of London. This was the final 
event of the war, peace being made in July, 1667. 



284 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

The republic, however, had another enemy, the 
ambitious Louis XIV. of France, and a more 
dangerous war was impending. It was for a time 
averted by a triple alliance between the Netherlands, 
England and Sweden. This Louis busied himself 
in overcoming and succeeded so well that on March 
28, 1672, Charles II. of England declared war upon 
the United Provinces. A few days later, April 6, 
Louis XIV. did the same, and the independence of 
the Netherlands was as seriously threatened as in 
the palmiest days of Spain. Fortunately for it the 
young Prince of Orange had now reached the age 
of maturity and was to prove himself a match for 
all his foes. And in De Witt the republic had a 
statesman of the highest ability. 

But the republic was in a poor state for war. 
Its army had been reduced in numbers and was 
feebly commanded. The magazines were empty, the 
fortifications in bad condition, money was scarce, 
incompetence and greed prevailed in the public 
offices. The fleet alone was in good condition. 

De Witt lost no time in seeking to overcome this 
state of affairs. He succeeded with difficulty in 
putting the country into a better financial condi- 
tion, increased the navy to more than one hundred 
and thirty ships, and brought up the army to over 
50,000 men ; making efforts to add still more to its 
strength. At the opening of the war, however, the 
army was still in a weak and incapable condition, 
and the hosts of the French king, under such 
famous captains as Conde and Turenne, made short 
work in overcoming resistance on land. But at sea, 
De Ruyter faced the combined fleets of France and 



WARS WITH ENGLAND AND FRANCE 285 

Spain, holding his own with a courage and energy 
that saved his country from invasion by water. He 
won, indeed, an important victory, and one in which 
De Witt took part, as he was on board the fleet and 
showed a courage equal to that of the best sea-dog 
of them all. 

On land, city after city fell before the French 
forces, the provinces of Utrecht and Gelderland 
were overrun, and it became necessary to adopt 
strenuous measures to save the province of Holland 
from conquest. At De Witt^s entreaty the Estates 
of Holland consented to open the dykes and over- 
flow the land until the region about Amsterdam was 
buried beneath the inflowing sea. Within the 
'' water-line '' terror and misery prevailed, the trades 
were at a stand, the shops closed their doors, all 
was confusion and dismay. The end of the republic 
seemed at hand. 

This perilous state of affairs incensed the popu- 
lace against De Witt, who had made many enemies. 
On July 22, 1672, as he was on his way home from 
the council chamber, he was attacked and danger- 
ously stabbed. " Up with Orange ! Down with De 
Witt ! " became a popular cry. He was assailed by 
his opponents, scandals were charged against him, 
and his brother Cornelius was arrested on a trifling 
charge and on the 19th of August was frightfully 
tortured to force from him a confession of guilt. 

That same day the end came. A turbulent mob 
gathered around the prison, where John de Witt 
was then visiting his brother, the guard made no 
attempt to control them, and in the end they broke 
open the doors and swarmed into the building. 



286 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

Cornelius was seized and thrown down the stairs, 
where he was wounded with clubs and pikes. On 
reaching the street the mob rushed upon the brothers 
with clubs and other weapons and in a few moments 
both lay dead. Thus fell one of the greatest of 
Dutch statesmen, as Barneveldt had fallen before 
him, a victim of false accusation, and in this case 
of virulent popular rage. 

Fortunately for the United Provinces, there was a 
great man still at their head, one who was to prove 
himself in certain respects the greatest of the great 
house of Orange, which had produced a succession of 
distinguished men. Though now only twenty-two 
years of age, he was mature in many of his powers 
and abilities, and William III. of Orange was to 
prove a full match for the ambitious and warlike 
Louis XIV. As for statesmen, they were not want- 
ing, a series of men of fine capacities succeeding the 
murdered De Witt. 

The water-line, the last important project of the 
great statesman, gave Prince William an oppor- 
tunity to make his preparations for defence, keep- 
ing off the French army, while the fleet on the 
Scheldt and Zuyder Zee saved those waters from 
foreign invasion. In the eastern provinces the 
Dutch troops won some advantages and held Gronin- 
gen firmly against capture. At threatened points 
intrenchments were thrown up or the water let in. 
These movements proved effective and by Septem- 
ber, 1672, Holland had been made safe against in- 
vasion and the young prince was ready to face the 
French in the other provinces. 

We cannot attempt to describe the many events of 




By Permission of Franz Hanfstaengl, Munich 

WILLIAM III., PRINCE OF ORANGE AND STADTHOLDER OF 

HOLLAND, AFTERWARD KING OF ENGLAND 

From the Portrait by Caspar Netscher 



WARS WITH ENGLAND AND FRANCE 287 

these six years of war. William won victories and 
met with defeats, but his courage remained firm and 
his strength steadily increased. In December a 
French army was led across the frozen flood into the 
province of Holland and committed serious depreda- 
tions. But a sudden thaw followed, thousands of 
armed peasants blocked the road out, and only the 
panic of a colonel, Pain-et-Vin, enabled the French 
army to avoid destruction. William had the cow- 
ard executed, but the invaders had escaped with 
their spoils. 

Meanwhile the fleet was active and kept the Eng- 
lish so constantly engaged in dealing with it that 
they made no attempt at a land invasion. The 
Prince, as active in diplomacy as he was in warfare, 
finally succeeded in withdrawing England from its 
alliance with France, a treaty of peace being signed 
in February, 1674. New Netherlands which had 
been captured by the Dutch in 1673, was given 
back to England by the terms of this treaty, and, 
as New York, remained an English settlement. The 
German states which had taken part in the war 
were also induced to withdraw, leaving the republic 
only France to deal with. This diplomatic success 
was in great part due to the young prince, who was 
manifesting unusual ability alike as a soldier and 
a statesman. 

During the remainder of the war the tide of 
success between the combatants ebbed and flowed 
back and forth, Louis gaining no permanent acces- 
sions, while William, by dexterity in dealing with 
Holland's various enemies, succeeded in isolating 
France. Finally, in 1678, Louis was compelled to 



288 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

sign a treaty of peace, and the long and hopeless 
war came to an end, France gaining nothing by the 
struggle. Meanwhile William, a grandson of 
Charles I. of England, gave himself a still stronger 
hold upon that kingdom by marrying Mary, 
daughter of the Duke of York, soon to become 
King James II. This gave him a claim upon the 
throne of England that was soon to bear fruit. 

The war by which the ambitious Louis XIV. 
proposed to capture and annex the Netherlands had 
ended without the accomplishment of his aim. But 
the great stadtholder knew that the peace he had 
won was little more than a truce. Louis had only 
withdrawn from the struggle to gain strength for 
a second effort. And his purpose was not only 
political, but religious domination. His ambitious 
soul held the dream of extending the dominion of 
France throughout Europe and also of uprooting 
Protestantism in the continent, replacing it by 
Catholicism. Of this William of Orange was well 
aware, and he felt that in his hands lay the cause 
of political and religious liberty in Europe. For 
the defence of this he deemed himself to be the God- 
appointed champion. 

The interval of peace was spent in active prepara- 
tion for the struggle to come, troops and money 
being gathered, ships built, and the Protestant 
Powers of Europe coordinated in preparation for the 
inevitable struggle. One of the chief of these Powers 
was then under Charles IL, a monarch secretly in- 
clined to Catholicism, and who, instead of opposing 
France, was in secret sympathy with its aims. 

The danger assumed a more prominent shape in 



WARS WITH ENGLAND AND FRANCE 289 

1685, when Louis revoked the Edict of Nantes, 
which had given freedom of worship to the Hugue- 
nots (French Protestants) since 1508. There were 
more than a million of these in France, one-twelfth 
of the total population, and among them many of 
the most industrious and capable people of the land. 

The result was terrible. The act had been pre- 
ceded by a persecution that drove hundreds from 
the land and led to the plunder, torture, and death 
of hundreds of others. The revocation of the Edict 
of Nantes robbed them of all protection, and hun- 
dreds of thousands of these useful citizens left their 
homes and country to seek freedom in foreign lands. 
Many thousands of the fugitives found a new home 
in Holland, where they were gladly received, espe- 
cially in the cities, which profited greatly from this 
influx of the most industrious people of France. 
New branches of industry were established by them, 
while they gave renewed vitality to older branches. 
The result was that the bigoted French monarch 
had driven from his country half a million of its 
best inhabitants to carry their skill and vital energy 
to distant and hostile lands. Never had there been 
done a more insensate act. It not only robbed his 
own land of useful and loyal subjects for the benefit 
of other countries, but roused all Protestant Europe 
against him as never before and put new strength 
into the hands of his arch-enemy, William III. of 
Holland. 

Events were taking place that would add greatly 

to the power and influence of the great stadtholder, 

by making him also William III. of England. 

Charles II. died in 1685, leaving the throne of 

19 



290 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

England to his brother James, Duke of York, a 
man of more ability and energy and one ardently 
devoted to the Catholic faith, though he promised 
to maintain and defend the Established Church of 
England. He professed, moreover, to be in favor 
of maintaining the balance of power in Europe, and 
William III. hoped to win him over to his plans. 

It was not long, however, before James showed 
his true character and sentiments. Protestants were 
discharged from office and Catholics put in their 
place. Episcopal dioceses were given to professed 
Catholics. Numbers of the clergy were dismissed 
from the colleges of Cambridge and Oxford and 
foreign priests appointed to their chairs. So zeal- 
ous did James become to restore Eoman Catholicism 
in England that even the pope advised him to be 
more cautious. 

Yet he was past being governed by discretion, and 
entered secretly into league with Louis XIV., as his 
brother had done before him. Such a course could 
lead only to one end. The people of England, 
nobles, gentry and commoners alike, grew hostile 
to the King, and in 1688 the Prince of Orange was 
applied to, as the nearest Protestant heir to the 
throne (being grandson of Charles I.), to aid them 
in deposing their disloyal King. William readily 
accepted the invitation, made careful preparations 
for the proposed invasion, and in November, 1688, 
landed in Devonshire with an army of about 14,000 
men. The army and navy of England came to his 
aid, hardly a friend or partisan remained to James, 
and he quickly fled from England to France, where 
he was kindly received by Louis XIV. 



WARS WITH ENGLAND AND FRANCE 291 

Shortly afterwards William and his wife Mary, 
daughter of the deposed James II., were crowned 
King and Queen of Great Britain and Ireland. In 
1689 James landed in Ireland with a small force 
given him by the French King, and trusting to a 
general rising of Catholic Ireland in his cause. He 
besieged Londonderry, but was unable to take it, 
and on the 1st of July, 1690, was totally defeated 
by King William at the battle of the Boyne. This 
established *' Dutch William," as his enemies sar- 
castically called him, firmly on the English throne 
and turned that strong country definitely against 
the projects of the French king. 



CHAPTEE XXXV 

THE POWERS COMBINE AGAINST FRANCE 

Louis XIV. was confronted by his greatest 
enemy, the ablest statesman and ruler then in Eu- 
rope, William III., Prince of Orange, Stadtholder 
of the Netherlands republic, and King of Great 
Britain and Ireland. Sombre and uncommunicative 
in character, he was far more worthy of the title 
of William the Silent than the man who bears it in 
history. Yet while taciturn and reserved in disposi- 
tion, he was energetic in action, inflexible in pur- 
pose, cool, crafty, ambitious and persistent, a man 
of ripe judgment and clear discernment, at rare 
times breaking into passion, but usually calm, 
rational and deliberate. The ambitious Louis of 
France was to find in this great organizer and able 
soldier his chief enemy, the one man in Europe 
capable of forming a coalition of the Powers strong 
enough to overcome his armies and defeat his 
schemes of conquest. 

The league or coalition formed by William in- 
cluded the German emperor, Bavaria and other 
German kingdoms or principalities, Sweden, Spain 
and the United Netherlands. To this he was now 
able to add Great Britain. War quickly followed 
the crowning of William as British king and was 
not at first favorable to his projects. In 1690 
Luxembourg, in command of the French forces in 
the Spanish Netherlands, defeated Waldeck, the 
aged commander of the Dutch forces, at Fleurus, on 
292 



POWERS COMBINE AGAINST FRANCE 293 

July 1. But though defeated, it was not with dis- 
honor. The infantry of Holland and Friesland 
showed great courage, and the army held its own 
stubbornly, not leaving the field until nearly half 
its soldiers lay dead or wounded. 

A few days later came a second defeat, this a 
naval one, the fleet of the allies being beaten by 
the French Admiral Tourville off Beachy Head. 
This disaster was due to the ill conduct of Lord 
Torrington, the English admiral, who deserted the 
Dutch and left them to bear the brunt alone. Tor- 
rington was dismissed from his position in conse- 
quence of his treachery, but was not otherwise 
punished. 

These two defeats caused much depression in 
Holland, and only the coming of the King in the 
spring of 1691 to take command in person restored 
confidence. He had been absent from his native 
land two and a half years, during which he had 
driven King James out of England and defeated 
him in Ireland, and he was enthusiastically received, 
with triumphal arches and bonfires, and with 
poems and speeches of warm welcome. A confer- 
ence of the allies was subsequently held at the 
Hague, where it was resolved to put 220,000 men 
into the field, the republic supplying 35,000 of 
these. England's part was in the form of subsidies. 

Yet ill fortune awaited the allied cause. 'A 
French army made a sudden attack on Mens and 
took it before William was able to come to its 
assistance. The victors also committed frightful 
ravages, especially at Hull and at Liege, 3,000 
houses being plundered and burned in the latter 



294 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

place in revenge for Spain's part in the alliance. 
Brussels was threatened but escaped, and though 
two large armies, of 60,000 each, faced each other 
in the south, little more was done. 

In 1693 the cause of the allies took a favorable 
turn. William brought a considerable body of Eng- 
lish troops to the Netherlands, proposing more 
energetic action. Louis planned to avail himself of 
this removal of soldiers from England by invading 
that island and restoring James IL to the throne. 
Troops were gathered in numbers on the coast of 
Normandy, it being proposed to make the invasion 
with 20,000 or 30,000 men, under escort of a strong 
French fleet. At the same time steps were taken to 
promote a rising of the adherents of the deposed 
king. Meanwhile the British forces in Holland 
were to be kept busy and their return to England 
prevented by an attack on Namur. 

This proposed invasion of England met the fate 
of others of its kind. England rose against the 
danger. A conspiracy to overthrow the government 
was discovered and frustrated, a large force of de- 
fenders was gathered, and the British and Dutch 
fleet awaited in the Channel, while English and 
Dutch forces were held in readiness in the Nether- 
lands for a quick crossing if necessary. 

They were not needed. The invasion was pre- 
vented. Contrary winds and slowness in equipment 
detained Tourville at Brest. His associate. Admiral 
D'Estrees, sailed from Toulon to join him, but 
was delayed by a storm and was too late in arriving. 
Tourville had only sixty ships to oppose to the one 
hundred and twenty of the allies. The French 



POWERS COMBINE AGAINST FRANCE 295 

hoped that the English fleet would act as it had 
done at Beachy Head, but Queen Mary succeeded 
in allaying the discontent that existed, and in late 
May the Anglo-Dutch fleet, with 40,000 men and 
7,000 cannon, met Tourville off La Hogue. 

Tourville was brave and daring, but his force 
was badly outnumbered. He began the attack and 
kept it up from early morning until sunset, when, 
badly beaten, he fled in the darkness for the French 
coast with the battered remnant of his fleet. The 
brunt of the battle had been between the English 
and French, Almonde, the Dutch admiral, getting 
only a few of his ships up to the fighting line. 
Tourville had begun the attack on the British with 
the hope that some of the English captains would 
desert to his side, but no such treachery took place. 
During the next day fog and calm weather prevailed, 
and further fighting was prevented, while some of 
the French vessels reached harbor at Cherbourg and 
others at La Hogue. But the British followed 
these during the succeeding days, assailed them with 
gun-boats and fire-ships, and burned, sunk or drove 
ashore so many of them that nearly half the French 
fleet was lost. This included its best ships. So 
signal was the victory, in fact, that for long after- 
wards France remained a second-rate naval power. 
Its signal defeat at La Hogue put a final end to the 
proposed invasion. 

After that time the war on the sea became un- 
important. Much damage was done to the Dutch 
and English commerce during the following years, 
and Jean Bart, a famous French privateer, became 
a terror of the North Sea, but there were no naval 



296 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

battles of importance during the remainder of the 
war. The fleet of the allies was kept busy in guard- 
ing the merchantmen with their valuable cargoes, 
though a large fleet of merchant vessels, insuffi- 
ciently guarded, was attacked by Tourville in 1693 
and met with severe loss. 

On land the war was actively kept up. The 
French attack on [N'amur in 1692 proved successful, 
after a sturdy resistance. At Steekirke William won 
a victory which was changed into a defeat by Luxem- 
bourg. Another loss to the allies was the death 
of Waldeck, one of their ablest generals, at the age 
of seventy-two. 

In 1693 also William suffered defeat, this time 
at Neerwinden. Attacked by Luxembourg with a 
much stronger army, he lost nearly all his artillery 
and narrowly escaped capture, saving himself by a 
hasty flight. Only his masterly retreat prevented 
this repulse from becoming an overwhelming dis- 
aster. William also found himself thwarted by the 
difficulty of obtaining funds from Parliament, the 
intrigues of the friends of James IL, and opposition 
in the republic, all this preventing a vigorous 
prosecution of the war. Queen Mary died in 
January, 1695, an event which threw him into 
weeks of deep depression. 

Yet despite all this the war was prosecuted in 
1695 with greater vigor than heretofore, each side 
having an army of over 100,000 strong. This force 
enabled William to fight offensively, and in July 
he laid siege to Xamur, which Louis had taken two 
years before. It had been fortified by the brilliant 
engineer Vauban and was defended by Boufflers, a 



POWERS COMBINE AGAINST FRANCE 297 

brave and capable commander. As William said, 
it was "a hard nut to crack." Yet it was taken 
in a month, the attack being conducted by Coe- 
hoorn, a rival of Vanban in military engineering. 

The citadel was separately besieged, the garrison 
having taken refuge in it. Villeroy, who sought 
to relieve it, was kept away by an army of the 
allies, and then sought to draw off the besiegers 
by an attack on Brussels. He failed in this and the 
citadel fell, the garrison being permitted to march 
out with the honors of war. 

This was the last important event of the war, 
though it was continued for two years longer. It 
lasted in all for eight years, extending to Germany, 
Spain and Italy, as well as to the Netherlands and 
the ocean; but neither party gained any decisive 
advantage, while both had become worn out, physi- 
cally and financially. As a result negotiations for 
peace began, to be completed at Ryswick in Sep- 
tember, 1697. In the treaty William was recog- 
nized by France as King of Great Britain, the 
Dutch obtained favorable commercial conditions, 
and the right to garrison the barrier towns of the 
Netherlands was granted them. 

As usual, however, Louis XIV. troubled himself 
little about living up to his obligations. In 1701 he 
succeeded in elbowing the Dutch out of the frontier 
towns and defied England by recognizing James III. 
as its king, his father, James II., having died. It 
was becoming evident to all that another war was 
imminent, when, in 1702, William III. also died. As 
he left no children, the throne descended to Anne, 
Queen Mary's sister. 



298 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

The brunt of the war, just finished, as of the 
preceding wars, had fallen upon the Spanish 
Netherlands, the modern Belgium, and as in our 
own days this unfortunate country, "the battlefield 
of Europe," had suffered terribly from the strain. 
Its cities in ruins, its villages destroyed, its land 
untilled, its people suffering from the misgovern- 
ment of Spain, it was little more happy than in the 
days of Philip II. and the Duke of Alva. 

Fortunately, in Maximilian Emanuel, elector 
of Bavaria, it had a governor capable of repairing 
the disasters of war. Brussels, then in a desolate 
state, was restored by him, plans were made to 
connect Antwerp with the sea by a ship canal and 
to revive industry and commerce, and steps were 
taken to found an East India Company in Flanders. 
All this promised well for the future, but the wings 
of the eagle of war were not yet folded. Though 
William of Orange had passed away the work he 
had done had not died with him. The coalition 
against France built up by him still held together, 
and when hostilities were renewed, as was the case 
in 1702, commanders of the highest ability ap- 
peared on the side of the allies, the famous Marl- 
borough in command of the British forces, the 
equally famous Prince Eugene on the side of 
Austria, while Antonie Heinsius, one of Holland's 
ablest statesmen and a man on whom William III. 
had largely depended, became the leading agent 
on the side of the republic. These three formed a 
great triumvirate with which Louis XIV. had now 
to deal. 

In the war that now broke out, known as the 



POWERS COMBINE AGAINST FRANCE 299 

"War of the Spanish succession/^ the Netherlands 
played a minor part, so that it may be hastily dis- 
posed of. In 1703 the Dutch invaded Flanders and 
fought a drawn battle at Eckesen. In 1704 they 
aided England to capture Gibraltar and took part 
in Marlborough's great victory at Blenheim. In 
1706 this great soldier, aided by them, won the 
battle of Ramillies and drove the French out of 
the Netherlands. The victory of Oudenarde was 
won in 1708. In 1709 Louis made an unsuccessful 
attempt to withdraw the Dutch from the coalition 
and the terrible battle of Malplaquet was fought, 
followed by the capture of Mons. This ended the 
series of great victories for the allies, negotiations 
for peace were resumed in 1713, and the peace of 
Utrecht was signed, bringing to an end the long 
and terrible struggle. 

In this treaty the Spanish Netherlands were 
passed over to the republic, which in turn transferred 
them to Austria, they becoming known as the Aus- 
trian Netherlands. A favorable commercial treaty 
was made between the Dutch and the French. The 
peace that followed made the republic almost as 
powerful on land as it had long been at sea. Wisely, 
however, it determined for the future to stand 
clear of foreign complications and its importance in 
European politics came almost to an end. 



CHAPTEE XXXVI 

THE DECLINE OF THE NETHERLANDS 

The events narrated in the last chapter bring to 
an end the active part which for two centuries the 
Netherlands had played in the politics of Europe. 
In the two centuries that followed, from the Peace of 
Utrecht in 1713 to the present time, this part was 
a minor one, and its history may be very briefly dealt 
with. 

As regards the provinces now known as Belgium, 
then as the Austrian Netherlands, they remained 
imder the rule of Austria until late in the eighteenth 
century and had no separate history calling for de- 
scription. In 1789, the date of the beginning of the 
French Revolution, a Revolt against the Austrians 
broke out in Brussels, and soon spread throughout 
Brabant, which on December 27 declared its inde- 
pendence. The other provinces quickly followed, 
and on January 11, 1790, the whole formed them- 
selves into an independent state, taking the name of 
United Belgium and governed by a congress. This 
new nationality had a brief existence. In November 
came a strong Austrian army, which met with little 
opposition, the old constitution being restored. Two 
years later, in November, 1792, came a French in- 
vasion winning a victory at Jemappes. In 1794 a 
second victory, at Fleurus, put an end to the Aus- 
trian Netherlands. Subsequent battles confirmed the 
French dominion and in 1801 Belgium was annexed 
300 



DECLINE OF NETHERLANDS 301 

to France and became an integral part of that 
country. 

The history of the United l^etherlands during the 
eighteenth century was little more exciting. Life 
was quiet there from the Peace of Utrecht until 
1745, when the Dutch took part in the rout of the 
English and Austrians at Fontenoy by the French 
under Marshal Saxe. In the war that followed the 
republic lost all its frontier towns, the French in- 
vaded Dutch Flanders, and the independence of the 
country was seriously threatened. The Provinces 
had fallen so low that their people began to wish 
for a dictator. 

Under these circumstances the Orange party, in 
eclipse since the death of William III., began to lift 
its head, under English support. Prince William 
Charles Henry Friso, the successor of the house of 
Orange, was proclaimed Stadtholder and Admiral- 
General of Zealand in 1747, under the title of 
William IV. This movement spread rapidly, Hol- 
land followed Zealand, and the prince quickly at- 
tained the same rank throughout the United Prov- 
inces. A new Prince of Orange was at the head of 
the government and the people expected much of 
him — more than he was capable of accomplishing. 
Fortunately for Holland peace was made in 1748, 
and affairs were restored to their previous standing. 
But the republic had been deeply humiliated and 
it failed to regain prominence under the weak rulers 
that followed between that time and the coming of 
the French Eevolution. 

Not only politically but industrially the United 
Netherlands were now upon the downward track. 



302 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

Their commerce had long since passed its highest 
point and was in its decline. Other and active rivals 
were in the field and England had become a power- 
ful competitor upon the sea. No longer were the 
ships of Holland the swiftest, their captains the 
ablest, their crews the most efficient. In fact, so low 
had the art of naval architecture fallen in that 
country that English shipwrights were called in 
to help in the building of war vessels. The Dutch 
merchant no longer sailed to distant shores in the 
interest of his business. He now sat in his office 
and waited for the influx of trade. Grown wealthy 
by former activity, the commerce of the land had 
fallen into a state of dry rot, from which it was not 
again to emerge. The rich East India Islands were 
held, but there were troubles and losses in these and 
dividends fell off rapidly. 

The fisheries were also in a state of decline, the 
number of ships engaged greatly diminishing, while 
the competition of other countries had grown very 
active. As for manufacturing industries, these had 
likewise decayed, partly from the active foreign 
rivalry, partly from high wages, heavy taxes, and the 
opposition of the cities to any transfer of industries 
to the country. The rules of the guilds also affected 
injuriously the free growth of industry, and there 
were on all sides symptoms of a material decline. 

Such was the commercial and industrial status 
to which the Provinces had fallen by the middle of 
the eighteenth century. They had lost their predom- 
inance alike on land and sea, in war and peace, and 
during the succeeding years were to be relegated 
to a still lower rank. 



DECLINE OF NETHERLANDS 303 

Passing onward to the date of the controversies 
between England and its American colonies, Holland 
again comes into a position of interest to American 
readers. While the Stadtholder and his party- 
favored the English cause, the people at large widely 
sjinpathized with, the colonists, and the attempt to 
force taxed tea upon the Americans was largely frus- 
trated by the smuggling of Dutch tea into the colo- 
nies. During the war that followed, the chief Dutch 
islands of the West Indies, St. Eustatius and 
Curagao, became the center of an active contraband 
trade, in which the first-named flourished so greatly 
as to be converted from an insignificant, bald rock 
into a " magazine of all the nations of the earth.'' 

The inhabitants greatly increased, merchants gath- 
ered there in numbers, and the ships that called 
there were numbered by the thousands. Despite the 
complaints of the English, smuggling went on un- 
checked, and the first foreign recognition of the flag 
of the revolted colonists, the red, white and blue, was 
made by the Dutch governor of St. Eustatius, who 
saluted it with the firing of cannon on November 16, 
1776. All the supplies the rebels wanted were to be 
had from this island. Here they found a market for 
their own products. For some years of the American 
war this island was, in the words of Burke, the 
'^ Tyre " of the Antilles, the rich " mine of fortune " 
for Dutch and iimericans, and even for such British 
traders as placed profit above loyalty. 

When France declared war against Great Britain, 
as an ally of the Americans, active efforts were made 
to bring the States-General of the Provinces to the 
same state of mind. But these were in no condition 



304 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

for war, either on land or sea. In 1779 the famous 
John Paul Jones sailed into the port of Texel with 
prizes taken in British waters. England demanded 
that the privateer should be sent away and the prizes 
returned, but Jones declared himself no privateer, 
but an American naval officer, and sold his booty to 
the Dutch. He also frequently visited Amsterdam 
and the Hague and was received there as an ally and 
hero. Jones remained at Texel for three months and 
when the States-General finally ordered him to 
depart, he coolly produced a French commission and 
stayed on. 

All this brought England into a warlike mood. 
Dutch ships were searched and captured, and a 
number of merchantmen convoyed by a Dutch ad- 
miral were seized. A skirmish ensued, ending in the 
admiral striking his flag before a superior force. 
This was practically an act of war and created much 
hostile feeling in the Provinces. They were in no 
state for hostilities, but England was, and in De- 
cember, 1780, a declaration of war was issued and 
immediate attacks on Dutch commerce began. 

In the following February a British fleet appeared 
before St. Eustatius, which was in a very poor state 
of defence, and seized the place, the spoils taken 
being valued at forty millions, while 2,000 prisoners 
were taken, mostly American. Other captures were 
made, the island of Demerara being surrendered, 
while attacks were made on the Dutch islands in the 
Bast Indies. Here, and at the Cape of Good Hope, 
a French fleet saved the Provinces from loss. Only 
one battle of importance took place in this short war, 
this being off the Dogger Bank, between a Dutch and 



DECLINE OF NETHERLANDS 305 

an English convoying fleet. They were equal in 
numbers but the British ships were much the heavier. 
For several hours the fight continued, Parker, the 
British admiral, finally withdrawing, while Admiral 
Zoutmann, equally disabled, waited half an hour for 
a return of the British. They failed to reappear, 
and he returned in triumph to Texel. 

This affair greatly raised the spirit of the republic 
and Zoutmann became the hero of the day. But the 
Dutch trade was in a serious condition, warships and 
experienced sailors were wanting, and the Provinces 
were glad enough to conclude peace in 1783. It was 
an inglorious peace for the Provinces, and one that 
signified the loss of its position as an independent 
great power. The English obtained the island of 
Negapatam, the seat of the cinnamon trade, and the 
right of free traffic with the Dutch East India colo- 
nies, a matter of much commercial importance. 



20 



CHAPTER XXXVII 

HOLLAND IN" THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 

Something has been said in the preceding chapter 
about the great difference in the commercial and 
industrial condition of Holland and its sister prov- 
inces in the middle of the seventeenth and eighteenth 
centuries. In the former was prosperity. The long 
war for independence and its triumphal result had 
left the United Netherlands mistress of the seas and 
the most active center of commerce in all Europe. 
The whole country was in a thriving condition, 
plenty and wealth prevailed, and the trade of Amster- 
dam and the other commercial cities extended to 
the utmost parts of the earth. 

In the latter period the long war with Louis XIV. 
had produced a different result and proved disastrous 
to the prosperity of the Dutch merchants. The 
commerce of Holland had long been in considerable 
part a carrying trade, collecting the desirable prod- 
ucts of one country, selling them at a good, rate of 
profit to another, and then loading up with new 
cargoes to find a market at home or elsewhere. 

But while the fleets of the Netherlands had been 
engaged in war, and the merchant ships needed to 
be guarded by convoys of war-vessels, other mari- 
time nations were entering the market for a share of 
this profitable carrying trade. Bremen and Ham- 
burg and the ports of Denmark entered into active 
competition with Holland, while the war in the 
306 



HOLLAND IN EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 307 

Baltic greatly hampered the Dutch trade with the 
North. It was the same in southern Europe, the 
trade with Spain and France largely vanishing, while 
that with the Mediterranean ports was seriously 
impaired. Holland had ceased to be mistress of the 
seas. Dunkirk continued a haunt of privateers which 
made it dangerous to send out a vessel without an 
armed escort. In the Mediterranean were the Bar- 
bary corsairs, and the Antilles swarmed with pirates. 
As for the valuable clandestine trade carried on with 
the colonies of Spain in America, this largely van- 
ished before the growing alertness of the Spanish 
official agents. 

The neutral nations gained much of the trade lost 
by the belligerent Dutch. And when the war ended 
neutral countries had won a hold on the carrying 
trade of the world not easy to be thrown off. These 
nations had found in ocean commerce a source of 
prosperity which they made vigorous and success- 
ful efforts to retain. Denmark, Sweden, Prussia 
and Eussia all took part now in sea traffic and com- 
mercial companies, actively seeking world commerce, 
sprang up in all the maritime nations of the 
continent. 

France and England after the war became the most 
dangerous competitors with which Dutch commerce 
had to contend. France gained important trading 
concessions in Spain and the Spanish possessions 
in Italy, while English commerce took on a new life 
and developed actively, London, its chief center, 
growing in population until it more than doubled 
Amsterdam. England now possessed the most 
powerful navy in the world, the Dutch empire of the 



308 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

sea had disappeared never to return, and the mer- 
chant ships of the island kingdom found protection 
in all waters. Where the Dutch merchant had once 
held a monopoly of trade the merchants of England 
now came into active competition with him, and 
threatened to surpass him in all his chosen fields. 

This crowding out of Dutch commerce was a slow 
process. A large trade was retained after the peace 
of Utrecht, there being some four hundred ships sail- 
ing to Spanish and French ports, while the flag of the 
republic continued a familiar sight in the world's 
harbors. As for the East India Company, it sent 
home every year twenty-five to thirty shiploads of 
valuable goods. Amsterdam, indeed, was an em- 
porium of the world's products for half a century 
later. Yet it was easy to see that the Dutch com- 
merce was not holding its own, and the competition 
of England and other trading nations pushed it 
more and more toward the wall. 

The Austrian IsTetherlands at this juncture also 
came into competition with the provinces of the 
north. In Antwerp was formed about 1720 an " Im- 
perial and Eoyal Company" which was chartered 
in 1722 by the Emperor. Both England and Hol- 
land protested against this act, as if to them alone 
belonged the empire of the sea, but the Belgians 
persisted, claimed the freedom of the waters, and 
for a number of years afterwards their ships kept 
up an active trade, selling the products of the Indies 
at prices which paid good profits, but caused prices 
to fall in the marts of Amsterdam and the shares of 
the East India Companies of the English and Dutch 
alike to decline in value. Finally pressure was 



^ o 







HOLLAND IN EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 309 

brought to bear upon the Austrian government which 
induced it in 173'3 to withdraw from this East India 
traffic and leave it in the hands of its former holders. 

But if political influence could be brought in this 
way to bear on Belgian commerce, it did not affect 
the other rival trading nations, and the Dutch trade 
continued to fall off. As for the East India Com- 
pany, there was a serious decline in its dividends, 
which, rising to 40 per cent, in the first year after 
the war, fell off gradually to 30 and 25, and after 
1737 to 15 and 121/2 per cent. 

While this was going on in Europe, the directors 
and officials of the Company in the East were enrich- 
ing themselves at its expense by every means in 
their power. There was shameless corruption, hard 
to discover and harder still to eradicate. One trouble 
which needed to be met was the great influx of 
Chinese into Java, arising from the extension of 
sugar plantations in that island about 1700. These 
undesirable immigrants came in such numbers that 
Batavia overflowed with them, about one hundred 
thousand Chinamen gathering in and about that 
city. Many of these became wandering vagabonds 
or brigands, bands of them roaming about, plunder- 
ing the plantations. Eear of these marauders grew 
so great among the small population of Europeans 
that the council resolved to arrest all " suspicious 
Chinese wanderers'^ in Batavia. Those who went 
outside the Company's forts or posts were obliged to 
show " letters of permission," on penalty otherwise 
of being sent back to China. It was a case not unlike 
that which for years past has existed in the United 
States. 



310 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

This state of affairs led to a serious outbreak in 
1740. Exaggerated reports of extortions and ill 
usage had excited the Chinamen and fears of an at- 
tack by them were entertained. Van Imhoff, a mem- 
ber of the council, with two others, was commissioned 
to prevent any trouble of this kind by "gentle 
means." But when news of destructive disturbances 
in the upland region reached Batavia something more 
than " gentle means " was deemed necessary and the 
city was put in a condition for defence. 

News came that the Chinese in the vicinity were 
in open revolt, firing houses and plantations, and 
moving on the city. This gave rise to a violent 
panic, and on October 9 the question was put to the 
council whether it was not time " to clear the city of 
the Chinese.'' Van Imhoff, however, carried a reso- 
lution in favor of milder measures. 

The council was still in session when the report 
of a fire gave rise to a wild excitement among the 
Europeans and natives, who believed that Chinese 
incendiaries were at work. In their terror and fury 
they broke upon the Chinese quarters, plundering 
and burning the houses and murdering all they met, 
men, women, and children, sick and well alike. Sol- 
diers and sailors joined the insensate mob, and even 
the prisons were broken open and the Chinese in 
them slaughtered. For a whole week the scenes of 
outrage continued, the authorities unable to control 
them, Chinese being slain wherever found, until, as 
estimated, ten thousand of them had been killed. 

It was claimed that Valckenier, the Governor- 
General, had ordered the massacre, but he vigorously 
denied it and probably had nothing to do with it. 



HOLLAND IN EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 311 

But dissensions broke out in the council and Valcke- 
nier had three members, Van Imhoff and two others, 
arrested, and a month later shipped for Europe as 
military prisoners. When they arrived in Amster- 
dam Van Imhoff learned that he had been appointed 
to succeed Yalckenier as Governor. His appearance 
before the Company members as a prisoner filled 
them with surprise and anger. Valckenier was now 
on his way to Europe, but on arriving in the Dutch 
colony at the Cape of Good Hope the surprise was 
his, for he found orders there for his arrest and 
return to Batavia for trial as the instigator of the 
massacre. It was three years later when Van Imhoff 
returned to Batavia, full of plans for a great reform 
in the administration of colonial affairs. 

The West India Company suffered from similar 
causes to those that had affected that of the East. 
Its dividends, never so high as those of the other 
company, were only 5 per cent, in 1700 and fell 
off gradually to 2 per cent., and in many years no 
per cent., in the period of about 1740. Reforms 
were as necessary here as in the East, but the business 
done was much less extensive and could never be 
made very profitable. 

Affairs at home, as already stated, were in an 
equally depressed condition. The fisheries were in a 
state of decline, from which they were very unlikely 
to recover; home trade, as stated, had a host of 
enemies and obstacles to contend with; manufac- 
tures were in anything but a flourishing condition, 
this being a result in part of high wages, heavy taxes, 
hindrances to the removal of industries from the 
cities to the country, and the constraining rules of the 



312 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

guilds. Competition from abroad had seriously 
affected the cloth mills, while several other branches 
of manufacture felt the same depressing influence. 
The hat making, the silk industry, the once flourish- 
ing sugar refineries, and other lines of manufacture 
suffered similarly. As for the breweries, once numer- 
ous and flourishing, the taste for the new and more 
ardent beverage, gin, caused a rapid falling off in the 
beer trade, not much to the benefit of the people, 
who were fast substituting the fiery gin for the mild 
beer. 

Excess in the use of intoxicating beverages had 
long been common in the aSTetherlands, both men and 
women indulging, and in the lower and higher classes 
alike. In addition to gin, French and Spanish 
brandy had been introduced, while wines of many 
varieties came into common use, and the practice of 
drinking healths on every pretext, alike at social 
entertainments and public dinners, adding much to 
the flood of intoxication that swept over the land. 

Grace before meals and thanks at the dinner^s end 
did not interfere with the devotion to the cup. After 
the women left the table with a farewell glass the 
men returned to their wine and beer, and. at the 
evening meal devotion to the cup was renewed, bed 
being finally sought in a fuddled state. 

What should have been solemn ceremonies were 
marked by a like excess. At marriages, christenings, 
even funerals, the cup was always in evidence, the 
funeral feasts being scenes of indulgence in food 
and drink that were strongly condemned by those of 
serious mind. In the country a funeral feast was 
apt to lead to a drunken carouse in which all thought 



HOLLAND IN EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 313 

of the solemnity of the occasion disappeared, the 
guests leaving the house of death to reel home in 
mad merriment late at night, the pall-bearers per- 
haps ending their service by a resort to some neigh- 
boring inn to drink a final toast to the health of 
their deceased friend. 

This excess in strong drink was attended by an 
equal excess in the use of the pipe. Tobacco, intro- 
duced during the preceding century, had now come 
into universal use, the long pipe had grown to be a 
national characteristic of the Dutchman at leisure, 
and the use of the weed extended to children of eight 
or ten years of age. This excessive devotion to tobacco 
still persists in Holland; everywhere men and boys 
may be seen puffing at cigar or pipe, the little lad, 
in his early school years, being a miniature copy of 
his father alike in his style of dress and his devotion 
to the fragrant weed. 

After the death of William III. the power of the 
princes of Orange declined in Holland, pure republi- 
canism long held sway, and the title of stadtholder 
survived only as a minor rank. The administra- 
tive heads of the state now bore the title of regents 
and the government was conducted in democratic 
fashion. But as time went on the regents grew 
proud of their station and aristocratic in their pre- 
tences, looking upon themselves as the supreme power 
in the state, and holding themselves responsible only 
to God for their acts. 

These proud dignitaries, whose power was simply 
that which the people chose to confer, put on airs of 
princeliness. The sober black gowns of the digni- 
taries of the past were exchanged by the lordly re- 



314 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

gents, " strutting in a little brief authority," for a 
showy attire of velvet breeches, colored coats, lace 
ruffs, and sword at side, while by a lordly coat of 
arms they sought to give special distinction to their 
dignity. 

In speaking they affected French words, as in dress 
they affected French fashions, and sought alike in 
attire and demeanor to lift themselves above the 
common herd. Their houses put on the aspect of 
palaces, the latest French style of building replacing 
the old Dutch gabled residence. These lordly man- 
sions were often magnificently furnished, with chairs, 
tables and cabinets of costly woods and elegant finish, 
with handsome mirrors, finely painted porcelain 
vases, expensive Persian or Turkish carpets, valuable 
paintings and ceilings richly decorated with allegori- 
cal designs. The gardens were treated in the highest 
style of decorative art and brilliant with floral bloom. 
In addition to these regal residences the country 
seats of the regents were of like showy display. 

The old simplicity of Dutch life was thrown into 
the shade by this affectation of the proud regents, 
whose methods of display were imitated by others of 
wealth, there being large numbers of sumptuous 
town houses and villas whose elegance within and 
showiness without were sadly out of consonance with 
older ideas of good taste and dignified elegance. 

The people at large clung to the ways of their 
forefathers in style of dress and residence, and made 
little effort to imitate those introduced foreign fash- 
ions. The country house to which the busy city 
merchant loved to retire after his day of activity in 
his office was apt to be small and plain, with a few 



HOLLAND IN EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 315 

bedrooms and living-rooms, a plain flower garden, 
an orchard and kitchen garden, canals nearby with 
boats, chickens in the yard and pigeons in the air, 
the whole forming a peaceful prospect within which 
the owner might smoke his evening pipe with con- 
tent, his family aromid him, and the outlook en- 
livened with passing coaches or canal boats. Tran- 
quil rest and home enjoyments were what he sought, 
and these he found in this quiet way of life. 

But between the Frenchified dignity of the regents 
and men of their social standing and the Dutchified 
content of the quiet citizen had grown up a diversi- 
fied intermediate class, affecting foreign fashions 
and making a stilted effort to be regarded as citizens 
of the world. The old Dutch character, sturdily 
holding its own among the peasantry, was gradually 
giving way before the affectation of those of superior 
rank or wealth, this being shown in dress as in other 
ways. 

Thus with growing excess in eating and drinking 
and showy display the new tide of life ebbed and 
flowed in Holland and to a lesser degree in its sister 
provinces, while even the language was laid aside 
in the circles of life dominated by the regents, French 
elbowing out Dutch until in those circles only a 
mixed medley of language remained. 

During this period the title of stadtholder had 
been preserved in several of the provinces, the in- 
cumbent being William Charles Henry Friso, prince 
of Nassau and the nearest in descent from the house 
of princes of Orange. As no prince of Orange had 
existed after the death of the childless William III., 
the youthful Friso adopted the title, calling himself 



316 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

Prince of Orange and Nassau, but his authority 
over the provinces that acknowledged him as stadt- 
holder was no greater than that of the regents. 

By 1747 the people were ripe for a change in the 
form of government, being indignant at the existence 
of evils which they attributed to the corruption of 
the regents. A revolutionary movement in conse- 
quence took place for the deposition of the regents 
in favor of the young Prince of Orange as stadt- 
holder. This was accomplished, the Prince taking 
office under the title of William IV. The office was 
made hereditary in his family, and a degree of 
authority was given him that gave him more power 
than had been held by any of his predecessors. 

The new stadtholder, however, had but a brief 
period of rule, he dying suddenly in 1751, when his 
son and heir was only three years of age. He had 
proved a man of small ability, and his death called 
out few expressions of regret. His widow. Princess 
Anne, took control as regent for her yoimg son, 
but her rule also failed to give satisfaction and her 
death in 1759 was coolly received. The Duke of 
Brunswick, a man of authority in the republic, re- 
placed her as guardian of the young prince, and 
though the full authority of the stadtholder was not 
granted him, he became the leading official in the 
republic. The young prince assumed the stadtholder- 
ship in 1766, as William V., though the Duke re- 
mained for a number of years in practical control. 
The new stadtholder proved as incapable as his father 
had been, but he held the office till 1795, when he was 
deposed, in consequence of the disturbances due to 
the French Revolution. 



CHAPTEE XXXVIII 

NAPOLEON" AND THE NETHERLANDS 

In the outbreak of war that followed the French 
revolution of 1789 the Netherlands were the first to 
respond to the energy and enthusiasm of rejuvenated 
France, which proposed to set free all the peoples of 
Europe. This new crusade began in Belgium, where 
Dumoriez defeated the Austrians at Jemappes, De- 
cember 15, 1793, and freed from their control the 
Austrian ^Netherlands. They soon went farther than 
this. Early in 1794 Belgium was incorporated with 
France and the Dutch republic was threatened by 
the victors, the National Convention of France de- 
claring war against the king of England and the 
stadtholder of the United Netherlands. 

From this time on matters moved rapidly. 
Maestricht was bombarded, Breda was captured, 
Amsterdam was threatened. But at this point the 
republic began to hold its own, especially as Prussian 
and Austrian armies came to its aid. Hard fighting 
went on during the two succeeding years, now the 
allies, now the French, winning. But France grad- 
ually strengthened its hold on Belgium and in De- 
cember, 1794, crossed the frozen Mouse and made 
a vigorous inroad into the republic. It was against 
the aristocratic stadtholder, William V., Prince of 
Orange, that the movement was directed. Convinced 
that his power of resistance was at an end, he took 
ship for England January 18, 1795. With his de- 

317 



318 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

parture the republic, now more than two centuries 
old, ceased to exist in the form it had long 
maintained. 

It was quickly reorganized in a new form. The 
old aristocratic ideas were replaced by the " liberty, 
equality, fraternity'^ spirit of new France. The 
office of stadtholder was abolished, a president and an 
elected legislative body were chosen, and what is 
known in history as the Batavian Eepublic came 
into existence — retaining, however, the official title 
of the United jSTetherlands. The influence of the 
democracy of France and the United States was 
upon it. 

Yet it came out of the struggle sadly shorn. 
France demanded an indemnity of 100,000,000 
guilders and kept an army within its borders, paid 
and maintained by it. England seized most of its 
colonies in the East and West Indies and the Boer 
settlement at the Cape of Good Hope. Its naval 
power sank into insignificance compared with that 
of England, which swept the Dutch commerce from 
the sea. Its goods lay rotting in the warehouses 
for lack of ships to transport them. Its great grain 
and lumber fleets vanished, and foreign ships, some 
of them American, had to be chartered to carry its 
goods to market. Its widespread banking business, 
which had covered the whole world, was also lost, 
and the control of the republic by France promised 
utter ruin to the Dutch merchants and people. Pov- 
erty increased frightfully, a large portion of the 
people became paupers, and every road was filled 
with beggars in a country which had long been 
famous for its prosperity. 



NAPOLEON AND THE NETHERLANDS 319 

New changes were at hand. The shadow of 
Napoleonism fell over Europe and the whole con- 
tinent was in dismay. The Dutch republic, though 
nominally independent, was garrisoned by French 
troops and in 1803 was ordered to build a fleet of 
warships and transports to aid in Napoleon's pro- 
jected invasion of England. Thus matters went on, 
the hand of Napoleon falling more and more heavily 
on the country, until in 1806 the Batavian Eepublic 
came to an end. Louis Bonaparte was put over it by 
his imperial and imperious brother with the title of 
King of Holland, and a new phase of its history 
began. 

The career of the Netherlands as the " Kingdom 
of Holland " was not destined to be a long one. The 
new king went there with the purpose of being a real 
monarch, not a puppet at the beck and call of his 
arbitrary brother. "From the moment I set foot 
upon the soil of the kingdom I became a Hollander," 
he said, and it was not long before he came into con- 
flict with the imperial tyrant of France. He made 
earnest and honest efforts to consider the interests 
of Holland before those of France and in doing so 
roused the ire of the Emperor. 

In 1808 Napoleon offered to transfer him to Spain, 
which was now under his control and needed a king. 
But Louis refused, saying that he was a sovereign, not 
a pawn to be moved about the European chess-board 
at will. Spain was accordingly put under the rule 
of Joseph Bonaparte and Louis remained king until 
the end of 1709. At his brother's request he then 
attended a meeting of allied sovereigns at Paris. He 
had hoped to return to the Hague by January 1, but 



320 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

Napoleon would not let him go until he had yielded 
to certain arbitrary demands. Meanwhile the French 
army grew dominant in Holland. On April 7, 1810, 
Louis was permitted to leave Paris, but his career 
as king was near its end. Less than three months of 
his rule remained. On July 1, finding his position 
hopeless and his freedom of action gone, he resigned 
in favor of his eldest son. But the latter was not 
given time to become fixed in his seat. In less than 
two weeks afterward, on July 13, the kingdom of 
Holland was wiped off the roster of nations, its lib- 
erty abolished, and the country added to the terri- 
tory of the French empire. Thus the entire Nether- 
lands, Belgian and Dutch alike, had come under 
Napoleon's rule. 

Under the autocratic hand of the Corsican usurper 
events moved rapidly in the Netherlands, as they did 
over all Europe. In September, 1811, the Emperor 
sought this new part of France in person, visiting its 
leading cities, where he was received with every 
show of respect and loyalty, especially at Amsterdam. 
There the bells rang, cannon pealed, and fireworks, 
illuminations and addresses of welcome testified to 
the heartiness of the reception. It was one of the 
last triumphal journeys of the great conqueror, who 
had reached the summit of his power, with the era 
of his decline and fall near at hand. 

In 1812 came Napoleon's greatest enterprise, the 
invasion of Russia. To the '^ Grand Army " Holland 
contributed 15,000 troops. Few of these were to see 
their native land again. In December of that year 
all that was left of the ^^ Grand Army " came strag- 
gling back, about 18,000 in all, of whom a few hun- 



NAPOLEON AND THE NETHERLANDS 321 

dreds represented the Dutch contingent. The re- 
mainder lay dead on the soil of Eussia or were 
prisoners in Russian hands. 

Now all Europe sprang quickly into arms against 
the beaten conqueror. The fatal battle of Leipzig 
was fought and Napoleon's beaten columns reeled 
back to France. Everywhere the subject nations 
renounced their allegiance. The Netherlands were 
quick to join in the rising against the defeated Em- 
peror. The French garrison was withdrawn from 
Amsterdam November 14^ 1813, and the people rose 
in patriotic revolt. Fearing that the allies might 
seize the country given up by the French, Karel van 
Hogendrop, a partisan of the house of Orange, 
hastened to issue a proclamation claiming the country 
for its exiled stadtholder. 

The news of the rising in his favor quickly reached 
the prince in London and without hesitation he took 
advantage of it, crossing in an English frigate and 
landing at Scheveningen on November 26. With 
General Van Stirum he rode through the crowded 
streets of Amsterdam, greeted with wild applause, to 
the house of Van Hogendrop, who awaited him 
" nailed to his chair by the gout." 

The coming of the Prince was celebrated by illu- 
minations at the Hague and enthusiastic applause 
wherever the news reached. He brought liberation 
and independence and in his train would come pros- 
perity, so the hailing multitude hoped. What was 
he to be, stadtholder of a republic as of old, or king 
of a monarchy as of the later regime ? This question 
was answered by the commissioners at Amsterdam. 
On hearing of his arrival they issued a proclamation 
21 



322 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

greeting him as sovereign prince of the United 
Netherlands under the title of William I. This 
settled his wavering mind. He refused to take the 
title of king, but as sovereign prince he awaited 
the action of the allied powers and the end of the 
struggle with Napoleon. 

There was much yet to be done. Many of the 
fortresses remained in French hands. Troops were 
called for and money demanded. The Prince's young 
son William, arriving from England, was made 
general of infantry and inspector of arms. Every- 
where was restless activity, the new sovereign show- 
ing great energy and excellent governing talent. 
Cossacks, Prussians and English troops came to aid 
in the work of liberation, but home recruits were slow 
to respond to the Prince's call, money came with 
discouraging slowness, and the French were seeking 
to win back their lost ground. However, all fear 
of French control soon ended. On March 31 the 
allies occupied Paris; on April 11 Napoleon abdi- 
cated, and on May 3 he reached his new kingdom, the 
little island of Elba, with the title of Emperor and 
an " army " of four hundred men. As for the Dutch 
and Belgian fortresses, their French garrisons held 
firm until ordered by Louis XVIII., the new King of 
France, to surrender. Before the spring of 1814 
ended the Netherlands were free from the troops of 
France and ready to enter upon a new career. 

In the conference at Paris that followed the Prince 
found his domain much extended. It was decided 
to combine Belgium and Holland into a single king- 
dom, under William Y., who was to assume the title 
of William I., sovereign prince. Subsequently Eng- 



NAPOLEON AND THE NETHERLANDS 323 

land agreed to return all the possessions of the United 
Netherlands in the East and West Indies and at the 
Cape of Good Hope which it had seized, with the 
exception of Ceylon, this a concession of great value 
for the future of the Netherland kingdom. 

The Prince hesitated to adopt the title of king. 
But in March, 1815, came the news that Napoleon 
had left Elba and was again in France, and a final 
decision on this subject was deemed advisable. The 
States-General was received by the Prince with an 
address in which he resolved to take the supreme 
authority and royal dignity over the realm to be 
entitled " the Kingdom of the Netherlands.'^ " Long 
live the King," cried Van Hogendrop, president of 
the States-General, and a week later the powers at 
Vienna confirmed the title, recognizing William I. 
as '^King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of 
Luxemburg." 

The Netherlands furnished the stage for the final 
scene in the drama of Napoleon the Great. In Bel- 
gium, on the field of Waterloo, met the last army 
under the mighty conqueror and the combined 
armies of Wellington and Bliicher, and before the 
sun of June 15, 1815, set. Napoleon's conquering 
career was at an end. Wellington's army included 
a Dutch-Belgian force, led by the young Prince of 
Orange and his brother Prince Frederick. It num- 
bered over 30,000, but these were raw troops. Those 
under Prince William did good work in the pre- 
liminary struggle at Quatre-Bras, driving back 
Marshal Ney. At Waterloo also they fought against 
Ney and contributed to the great defeat. 

No country in Europe needed the peace that fol- 



324 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

lowed more than the new kingdom of the Nether- 
lands. The vanished commerce of Holland at once 
began to appear again and the manufactures of 
Belgium were restored to life. Trade grew apace, 
new canals were dug, and means of communication 
generally improved. By 1830 the ISTetherlands had 
gained the credit of being the second maritime coun- 
try in the world, England alone surpassing. But 
England had then a population of 22,000,000 to 
6,000,000 in the Netherlands. Factories also flour- 
ished, cotton and woollen mills, sugar refineries, 
machine works and the like, while the coal mines of 
Belgium were actively worked. The country was 
therefore able to furnish its ships with goods of its 
own making and much of the old-time prosperity was 
regained. 



CHAPTER XXXIX 

SEPARATION OF HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

The Union of Holland and Belgium was not a 
happy one. It had been forced upon the two coun- 
tries by the delegates at the Congress of Vienna for 
purely political reasons, without regard to the in- 
compatibility of temper between the bridegroom 
and bride. In truth they were sadly unfitted for 
such a marriage, being vitaUy unHke in conditions 
and opinions. 

No thought had been given to the fitness of the 
two countries for union, the only idea entertained 
being to form a strong kingdom as a check upon the 
ambition of France. In character, language, habits, 
industries, and religions they were unlike, and in 
a degree hostile. The Belgian people, through their 
long intercourse with France, had acquired much 
of the versatile spirit and ideas of the people of that 
country, and were out of touch with the staid and 
conservative mental habits of the Hollanders. They 
differed in language, French being the common 
tongue of the Belgians, at least among the educated 
and in public proceedings. They differed in indus- 
try, the Belgians being chiefly engaged in agriculture 
and manufacture, the Dutch in commerce and the 
fisheries. They differed in religion, and the Roman 
Catholics of Belgium did not tone well in feeling 
with the Protestants of Holland. The Belgian people 
were largely ignorant and much under the control 

325 



326 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

of the priests, while higher education and fuller 
religious liberty prevailed in Holland. 

This was not all. These differences might have 
been reconciled had a mild and conciliatory spirit 
been adopted. But the spirit shown was the reverse 
of this, the Belgians being treated by the Dutch 
largely as if they were a conquered people. While 
Belgium had a population of 3,400,000 and Holland 
only 2,000,000, the latter had as many representa- 
tives on the States-General as the former, the minor- 
ity thus equalling the majority in power and in- 
fluence. And the great majority of the public offices 
were held by the Dutch and the government con- 
ducted largely in their interest. In 1830 only one 
of the seven government ministers was a Belgian; 
of the public officials very few were Belgians ; of the 
1,967 army officers only 288 were Belgians. An effort 
was made to abolish the use of the French language 
in all government and judicial proceedings. The dif- 
ference in religious views also led to friction, the 
priests of Belgium bitterly opposing the control of 
education by the government. 

In material conditions, on the contrary, the two 
people were well mated, the active commercial spirit 
of the Dutch finding ready markets for the abundant 
manufactured products of the Belgians. In this re- 
spect each helped the other and by 1830 they had 
regained much of their old prosperity. 

Such was the state of affairs in the Netherlands 
when in 1830 France again broke out into revolution, 
and the effect of the popular revolt was felt through- 
out Europe, especially in Belgium, where discontent 
with the government became as rife as in France. 



SEPARATION OF HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 327 

A play called Le Muette, full of passionate revolu- 
tionary sentiment, given at Brussels on August 25^ 
inflamed the audience, who rushed from the theater 
into the street with wild shouts of '* The Parisians ! 
Imitate the Parisians ! '^ Others joined them, a 
howling mob filled the streets, and quickly acts of 
violence began, public and private buildings being 
attacked and damaged. 

The troops were called out, but they were too few 
to control the outbreak, and a burgher guard had to 
be enrolled for the protection of life and property. 
The revolt rapidly spread, there were similar scenes 
in all the large cities, the dismissal of the minister 
Van Maanan, who was very unpopular, was called 
for, and a separate administration demanded for 
Belgium. 

In this emergency the government showed a 
weakness and lack of decision which fanned the 
flames of revolution. An extra session of the States- 
General was called on September 13, but was dilatory 
in action, and, while it slowly debated, the exaspera- 
tion of Belgium rapidly increased. 

The influence of the party in favor of stern meas- 
ures finally prevailed and an army under Prince 
Frederick, 21,000 in number, was set in march 
against Brussels, the Prince being ordered to take 
possession of that city. This movement led to no 
result. There was fighting in the city, lasting for 
three days, and in the end the Prince ordered a 
retreat, the only result of this feebly conducted move- 
ment being to add to the spirit of revolt. 

Other towns joined Brussels in demand for separa- 
tion, a provisional government was formed which 



328 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

declared Belgium to be an independent state, and 
soon, of all the towns, Antwerp was the only one of 
importance held by the government. This was at- 
tacked by an insurgent army, which cannonaded it 
for two days, doing much damage. A suspension of 
hostilities followed, and on November 10 a Belgian 
national congress met at Brussels, at which inde- 
pendence was mianimously demanded. A convention 
of representatives of the five great powers was soon 
after held in London at the request of King William, 
and this also decided in favor of independence for 
Belgium. 

Early in 1831 the congress at Brussels took steps 
for the election of a new monarch, Prince Leopold 
of Saxe-Coburg being finally chosen. He made a 
public entrance into Brussels on June 21, where he 
was cordially received, and afterward made a tour 
of the country, the people everywhere greeting him 
with manifesta,tions of respect and loyalty. 

Matters were thus moving swimmingly toward 
independence in Belgium, but they were suddenly 
halted by the news that a Dutch army, more than 
50,000 strong, with 72 pieces of artillery, was on 
the point of invading the country. This had been 
brought together with the greatest secrecy, and 
Leopold had not half its number to oppose it. A 
battle took place on August 9, ending in quick defeat 
of the Belgians, and the narrow escape of Leopold 
from capture. This promising movement was halted 
by the appearance of a French army on the border, 
before which the Prince of Orange felt it necessary to 
retreat. 

Meanwhile the conference of the powers at London 



SEPARATION OF HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 329 

continued in session, engaged in drawing up terms 
of settlement. These the King of the Netherlands 
rejected, following this by the invasion just men- 
tioned. The feeble resistance of Belgium to this 
invasion led to new terms being offered, much more 
advantageous to Holland. These, at first bitterly- 
opposed in Belgium, were finally adopted and strong 
hopes of a settlement of the difficulties arose. One 
of the terms was that Belgium " shall form an inde- 
pendent and perfectly neutral state." 

This agreement was accepted by the representa- 
tives of the powers, but Holland protested against it, 
and refused to give up Antwerp. As King William 
and his advisers could not be induced to submit, 
it was decided by the Powers to adopt force, and 
the British and French fleets set sail for the coast 
while a French army marched upon Antwerp, This 
city had a garrison of only 5,000 men, while the army 
that marched upon it was 60,000 strong. It is some- 
what surprising, therefore, that it held out for nearly 
a month. It was surrendered December 23, 1832, 
and was handed over to the Belgians December 31, 
the French soon after recrossing the border. A 
convention was agreed to and signed by all parties 
May 21, 1833, the new king came into control, and 
it is of interest to state that on May 1, 1834, he 
signed a bill authorizing the building of a railroad, 
the first on the continent of Europe. Several years 
more passed, however, before all the terms of the con- 
vention were accepted, and it was not until March, 
1839, that the separation of the two countries was 
completed and the independence of Belgium assured. 

From that time forward until a very recent date 



330 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

the history of the two countries into which the 
Netherlands were divided, now commonly known as 
Holland and Belgium, presents little of striking in- 
terest. The revolutionary year of 1848, in which 
France threw off the bonds of kingly rule and for 
the second time adopted a democratic form of gov- 
ernment, created a degree of agitation in Holland, 
which ended in the adoption of a revised constitu- 
tion and a parliamentary form of government. The 
old, personal, *^ fatherly'' ideal of kingship, which 
had so long prevailed, ceased to exist and Holland 
swung into line with the new theory of the right of 
direct representation of the people at large. Bel- 
gium had already adopted a liberal form of govern- 
ment, both the Netherland nations thus swinging 
into the arena of modern governmental conditions. 
In its new stage of existence Holland retained its 
colonies and found there sources of commercial pros- 
perity, though the old system of oppression and ex- 
ploitation of the colonial nations passed away before 
the flood of new ideas of administration. Belgium 
also came into line as a colony-holding state when, 
in 1885, the Congress of Berlin organized the great 
Congo Free State in Central Africa. As Leopold II. 
of Belgium had been instrumental in the discovery 
and exploration of this region, he was asked by the 
Congress to add the new state to his circle of kingly 
rule. 

Leopold's idea of colonial administration, how- 
ever, was the old one of exploitation of the people 
of the colony, and reports of inhuman treatment of 
the natives by his agents grew so prevalent that in 
1908 he felt obliged to give up his sovereignty of 



SEPARATION OF HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 331 

the Orange Free State, transferring it to the Bel- 
gian government. In the following year this far 
from admirable monarch died, his son, Albert I., 
succeeding. 

In Holland, William, who had become stadtholder 
in 1766 as William Y., presided weakly over the 
government until 1795, left the country during the 
era of the Batavian Eepublic, returned to Holland as 
sovereign prince iix 1813, and took the title of king 
as William I. in 1814, resigning in 1840 in favor of 
his son William II., seventy-four years after first 
coming into power. The reign of William II. ended 
in 1849, and that of his son William III. in 1890, 
when Wilhehnina, his daughter, came to the throne. 
In her is still represented the famous house of 
Orange, which furnished Holland with so many able 
rulers in the past centuries, notably the famous 
William the Silent, and William III. of Holland and 
Great Britain. 



CHAPTEE XL 

THE NETHERLANDS IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 

The long-continued wars of Holland, as we have 
seen, had interfered seriously with its prosperity as 
a maritime nation and made an opening for other 
powers to compete with it in its valuable carrying 
trade. Yet despite the decline in its prosperity dur- 
ing the eighteenth century its trade was still a large 
and valuable one, and during a considerable part of 
the nineteenth century it continued to rank as the 
second maritime nation of the world, Great Britain 
alone surpassing it. The rivalry of the United 
States and Germany was yet to come. 

So far as comparative population was concerned 
Holland remained a close competitor with the British 
Isles. These possessed five times as many vessels, 
but there was almost as large a discrepancy in 
population. 

William I., former stadtholder, while king of the 
Netherlands did his utmost to foster the East India 
trade. The old-time East India Company had ceased 
to exist in 1798, but in 1824 a new association, the 
Dutch Commercial Company, was formed, and its 
eifect upon trade was quickly seen, Dutch commerce 
rapidly increasing in the period following this year. 
A treaty was made with England giving that coun- 
try free navigation in the Dutch East India colonies 
on the proviso that Dutch ships should enjoy similar 
advantages in the English colonies, 
332 



NETHERLANDS IN NINETEENTH CENTURY 333 

Trade with America, through the channel of 
Curagoa, also became active, and a plan was formed 
to excavate a ship canal across Nicaragua — one far 
beyond the financial ability of the Netherlands, as 
subsequent events have proved. But these ambitious 
plans came to nothing, the political trouble between 
Holland and Belgium putting an end to them. 

This activity at sea was matched with equal activ- 
ity on land, the manufacturing industries feeling the 
impetus. In metal work and various other lines of 
industry Belgium grew active, the factories of 
Brabant, Flanders and Liege becoming especially 
active, while in Holland like activity was manifested. 
In these lines the Netherlanders competed with the 
British industries, and in articles of apparel and 
luxury with France. 

The coal mines of southeast Belgium made work 
for 60,000 miners and supplied fuel for the indus- 
tries of the provinces, the metal works of Liege and 
Ghent and the numerous cotton mills and sugar 
refineries of the latter city. The same was the case 
elsewhere, and manufacture and commerce alike 
regained much of their earlier activity. 

Though the republican institutions of the northern 
provinces had been overthrown by Napoleon, and a 
kingdom subsequently built upon their ruins, the 
liberal institutions did not vanish. The new king 
proved himself capable and sensible, and after the 
trouble with Belgium ended, and the single kingdom 
became definitely divided into two, active movements 
towards a revision of the constitution were set in 
play by the liberals. 

But the king, who had begun his career as stadt- 



334 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

holder in the eighteenth century, found it difficult 
to adapt himself to the ideas of the new century, 
and in 1840 resigned the throne in favor of his son 
William II., dying three years afterwards. The year 
before his resignation the first railroad was opened 
in Holland, covering the short distance between 
Haarlem and Amsterdam. The steamboat was also 
beginning to replace the sailing vessel, and these 
steps towards greater rapidity in travel were signifi- 
cant of others towards fresh activity in political 
development. 

The movement in favor of a liberal constitution 
was engineered by Jan Eudolph Thorbecke, professor 
of law in the University of Leyden, and the leading 
Dutch statesman of the century. He headed a com- 
mission appointed by the new king to draw up a 
plan for a revised constitution. But he and his con- 
freres proved too liberal in their views, and their 
draft was rejected by the King in 1844. Four years 
later, however, came the French revolution, which in 
1848 sowed all Europe thickly with the seeds of 
liberalism, and William II., foreseeing worse if he 
did not give way, was wisely ready to accept a new 
constitution devised by Thorbecke in that year, 
though similar in its provisions to the one he had 
recently rejected. 

The new Kingdom of Belgium, established under 
Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg in 1831, and cutting 
loose definitely from Holland by the treaty of 1839, 
obtained a similar revision of the constitution in 
1850, but a sharp struggle continued for years after- 
wards between the two political parties. Leopold 
died in 1865, his son taking the throne as Leopold 11. 



NETHERLANDS IN NINETEENTH CENTURY 335 

In 1885 the latter, as already stated, was made 
president of the great Congo Free State, in Central 
Africa, a charge which he managed for his own 
personal profit, oppressing the natives to further 
his own aims. The results of this policy have 
been stated in the preceding chapter. 

It may be of interest to say here that within recent 
years the doctrines of Socialism, so active in Ger- 
many and France, have made much progress in 
Belgium, and that the demand for a more equitable 
system of franchise led to a strike of workingmen 
in 1913 that grew almost into a revolution. In the 
whole history of labor no other strike of such pro- 
portions has appeared, 400,000 men out of a popu- 
lation of 8,000,000 throwing down their tools 
with the threat that they would not be lifted again 
until im.iversal suffrage was granted. The strike 
was admirably managed, no disorder or violence 
attending it. But the people were evidently deter- 
mined and after two days the government gave way, 
agreeing to establish the reforms demanded. The 
Socialists, who controlled the strike, voted thereupon 
to resume work. The agreement was that the con- 
stitution of Belgium should be so adjusted as to 
bring actual conditions in conformity with its pro- 
vision that " All Belgians are equal before the law." 

With this brief review of recent political move- 
ments in the Netherlands, we may return to a survey 
of the general conditions there existing. While Bel- 
gium boasts something in the shape of highlands, 
its western section rests at a sea, or under sea, level, 
and this is the condition of Holland throughout, 
great part of its surface being below sea level and 



336 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

depending upon its dunes to keep the waves of the 
ocean out of its fields. These dunes, partly com- 
posed of sand-banks thrown up by the sea itself, 
partly strong retaining banks and walls built by 
the hand of man, are the Hollanders' only pledge of 
security against the incessant efforts of the ocean 
to reclaim its old heritage. 

More than once the mighty ocean has thundered its 
way through and flooded vast districts of the land, 
drowning out its inhabitants by the thousands. More 
than once the people themselves have opened their 
sluice gates and let the water in, to drown out armies 
of invaders. Only one of these inroads of the ocean 
has defied the power of the people to overcome its 
effects, that of 1282, when the waters broke through 
the sand barriers between Friesland and North Hol- 
land and, uniting with the small lake Flevo, formed 
the grand gulf known as the Zuyder Zee, penetrating 
60 miles inland. That part of the gulf known as the 
Y, on which Amsterdam stands, has been reclaimed, 
and about 12,000 acres of richly fertile land restored 
to agriculture. A more ambitious project has long 
been entertained, that of building a dyke across the 
mouth of the Zuyder Zee and reclaiming the whole 
450,000 acres which it covers. It is very shallow 
and by pumping and draining the whole may be 
recovered, but only at the cost of years of labor 
and large sums of money. 

Holland, aside from irruptions of this nature, is 
very largely an overflowed land. Canals traverse it 
in all directions; some wide, some narrow; some 
serving for ship navigation, some for produce boats, 
some as narrow passages between farms or separating 



KETHERLANDS IN NINETEENTH CENTURY 337 

field from field. Thus they take the part of fences 
or hedges elsewhere, or of roads for trafiic, while 
the meadows between them, always irrigated, serve 
as pastures for the abundant cattle or as farm lands. 

At all times boats may be seen traversing these 
waterways, laden with produce or goods, and taking 
the part of the wagon or cart elsewhere. It is said 
that about 50,000 people spend their lives on these 
canals, the stern of the boat forming a dwelling 
place for the boatman and his family, the forward 
part serving for freight. Only when the wintry chill 
comes and ice locks in the boats do they come to 
rest, they being at other times in constant motion. 

Another of the prominent features of Holland is 
the windmill, everywhere to be seen, and kept actively 
engaged in pumping out the water which seeps in 
from river and sea and which would otherwise over- 
flow the fields. By this means the winds are kept 
steadily employed for his benefit by the frugal 
Hollander. 

The windmills are innumerable, and are one of the 
most interesting features of Holland scenery. We are 
told that in a ride of twelve miles along the river 
Zaan four hundred of them were counted. These 
busy mills represent much of the wealth of Holland, 
a man who owns a number of them counting himself 
well-to-do. They serve at once for shelter, occupa- 
tion, and income, taking the place of the steam 
engine elsewhere. While many hundreds of them 
are kept at work pumping water over the dykes, 
others are engaged in labor of various kinds, grind- 
ing out wealth for their owners. 

It is well to say here that among the rural occu- 
22 



338 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

pations of Holland that of cheese-making is one of 
the most common. Large quantities of butter are 
produced, but the making of cheese takes on the pro- 
portions of a national industry. Among the hundred 
and fifty varieties of cheese said to be produced in 
the world Holland yields a fair proportion, the Edam 
cheese being the best known variety. Though the 
town of Edam is its native place it has migrated 
far over the land. It is a small, cylindrical cheese, 
yellow in color, and weighing from ten to fourteen 
pounds. The town of Alkmaar is the principal mart 
for this valuable product, exporting the golden globes 
in immense numbers. Of cannon-ball shape, thou- 
sands of tons of these yellow globes are handled in 
this town yearly, the old weight-house, built in 1582, 
still standing in the center of the town. Here all 
the cheeses are weighed by officials before they are 
loaded in the barges waiting in the canals nearby. 
These yellow cheeses are famed throughout the 
world as a table delicacy. Another variety is the 
celebrated one known as the Limburger cheese, en- 
joyed by some epicures as a delicacy, yet possessing 
an odor of so obnoxious and insistent a character 
that one must have largely lost the sense of smell 
before he can appreciate that of taste. 

Of the ports of Holland, the two leading ones are 
those of Amsterdam and Eotterdam, the first of old 
repute, the second now gaining precedence. Bel- 
gium's chief port is that of Antwerp, for centuries 
an active mart of trade. 

Of these cities Amsterdam is in some respects the 
most interesting. A poor fishing village in the 
eleventh century, by the seventeenth it had grown to 



NETHERLANDS IN NINETEENTH CENTURY 339 

be the great grain market of northern Europe, while 
its bankers have gained a standing that enables them 
to wield a great influence over the world's finances. 
It is looked upon as one of the wealthiest cities in 
the world. 

The peculiar feature about it is that it is built on 
a great number of small islands, some ninety in all, 
at the mouth of the Amstel, where it empties into the 
Ij or Y. Hence its name, signifying " dam of the 
Amstel. '^ The passages between these islands form 
a multitude of canals, traversing the city in all direc- 
tions, and crossed by about 400 bridges. The map 
of the city, displaying its canals, bears some resem- 
blance to a spider web. The buildings are erected on 
a wilderness of piles driven through peat and sand to 
a layer of clay forty or fifty feet below. Among these 
buildings is the Eoyal Exchange, standing upon 3,400 
piles, and the Royal Palace, built in 1648 on more 
than 13,000 piles. The ballroom within the latter 
is said to be the largest in Europe. The industries 
of the city are varied and numerous, an interesting 
one being diamond polishing, in which 12,000 Jews 
are said to be engaged. As a port Amsterdam 
formerly had to depend upon the Y and the shallow 
Zuyder Zee, but now possesses a navigable canal 
connecting it with the North Sea. 

Rotterdam, once of minor importance but which 
within the past century has grown to be the busiest 
port in Holland, is seated on the Maas, nineteen miles 
from the sea and forty-five miles southwest of Am- 
sterdam. Its trade has grown at an enormously 
rapid rate since the separation of Holland and Bel- 
gium and it now receives more than half of all the 



340 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

vessels that trade with Holland. Since 1872 its trade 
has followed a new waterway, that brings it within 
two hours' travel from the sea. The city is inter- 
sected by canals, the banks of which serve as 
wharves. 

Antwerp, Belgium's chief commercial city, needs 
little description here, so much having been said 
of it in preceding pages. Its history has been one of 
much turbulence and many disasters, but it is now 
an active and busy seat of trade, the " Liverpool of 
the Continent/' Its commerce is large and has 
increased rapidly for many years past, while it has 
many manufactures, these, like Amsterdam, includ- 
ing the cutting and polishing of diamonds and other 
precious stones. 

Of Brussels, the capital of Belgium, much has 
also been already said. It is built partly on the side 
of a hill, some of the streets being so steep that they 
can be traversed only by means of stairways. Yet it 
ranks among the finest and most beautiful cities of 
Europe. The Upper Town is the seat of the King's 
palace and the public offices and of the most fash- 
ionable residences, it being much more healthful 
than the Lower Town, which is greatly subject to 
fogs, due to the canals and the neighboring river. 

The city dates back to the eighth century and has 
long been a place of celebrity, it possessing many 
handsome buildings. It is one of the chief centers 
of industry in the country, its most famous product 
being its lace. Its carpets also have long been 
esteemed, though Brussels carpets are now chieiiy 
manufactured elsewhere. 



CHAPTER XLI 

THE DESOLATION OF BELGIUM 

The last word in the history of the Netherlands 
comes with the great war of 1914-1915, that vast 
and mighty conflagration of the nations in which 
all the greater Powers of Europe became involved, 
and the far-reaching effects of which were felt by 
all the world. Fortunately for Holland, it lay out 
of the track of the fighting armies. But unhappy 
Belgium lay across their path, and long before the 
dire work of devastation ended Belgium existed in 
great part only as a ruin, its people a starving multi- 
tude, its industries shreds and tatters, many of its 
thriving towns and villages heaps of ashes and 
fallen walls. 

Belgium was unluckily situated. It formed the 
only open road by which Germany could invade 
France. The Kaiser found the highway to France 
that was followed in 1870 closed and locked. There 
was a new frontier, that of Alsace-Lorraine, and 
against this the French strategists had erected a 
line of strong fortresses: Verdun, Toul, Nancy, 
Epinal and Belfort. These were joined by an elab- 
orate line of Fortes d'arret, through which the 
armies of Germany would have to break if they 
sought to reach France by the direct route, but 
which they would turn by following the northwest 
route. 

This second method had its disadvantages. The 
neutral territory of Luxemburg would have to be 

341 



342 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

crossed. But this dukedom is only forty miles wide, 
it being smaller than the state of Delaware, and 
not much larger than that of Ehode Island. To 
attempt to send the large army mobilized by Ger- 
many for the invasion of France over this narrow 
territory in the quick time needed would have been 
a serious military blunder. To gain the advantage 
of rapidity Belgium as well as Luxemburg would 
have to be crossed. Here, too, was the barrier of a 
neutrality, long before pledged by the Powers of 
Europe, Germany among them. But before this 
" scrap of paper,'^ as Kaiser William designated it, 
the Prussian war lord did not hesitate. Here was 
an open course by which the barrier of the Ardennes 
and the middle Meuse, also the French fortifica- 
tions, might be turned and the vast German army 
hurled like an avalanche upon France, and this 
road was taken without regard to the rights or 
consent of the Belgians. 

On August 3 the German government asked per- 
mission from Belgium to march across that country 
to the French frontier, promising to guarantee its 
independence at the end of the war. If refused it 
would be obliged to regard Belgium as an enemy. 
The Belgian government took no time in refusing, 
saying that its independence and neutrality had 
already been guaranteed. A stronger than Bel- 
gium stood behind the little kingdom. No sooner 
had the foot of German soldiers trodden upon Bel- 
gian soil than Great Britain declared war, saying 
that its duty to Belgium forced it to this measure. 

In the Eeichstag, convened in special session on 
August 4, the Imperial Chancellor said : '^ We are 



DESOLATION OF BELGIUM 343 

now in a state of necessity, and necessity knows no 
law. We were compelled to override the just pro- 
tests of the Luxemburg and Belgian governments. 
The wrong — I speak openly — that we are commit- 
ting we will endeavor to make good as soon as our 
military goal has been reached. Anybody who is 
threatened as we are threatened, and is fighting 
for his highest possessions, can have only one 
thought — how he is to hack his way through." 

Such were the preliminary steps towards the in- 
vasion of Belgium. But Germany was not to find 
it the easy road to the frontier of France hoped 
for. King Albert of Belgium did not hesitate to 
defy the Kaiser and his army and was quick to 
meet their advance. The border was crossed at a 
point near Vise on the night of August 4, the in- 
vaders finding themselves in the face of a Belgian 
force, prepared to defend its country. They suffered 
severely from machine gun fire until reinforced, 
when the Belgians fell back upon Liege. Here, on 
the 6th, King Albert took command of his army, 
prepared to contest every inch of the way through 
his kingdom. He had the advantage of having 
here one of the most strongly fortified towns in 
Europe, one capable of holding back the advance of 
the German army long enough to enable France 
to get its forces in the field. 

The city of Liege was soon occupied by the Ger- 
mans, but the strong circle of forts around it held 
out sturdily. These were of the most modem char- 
acter, and the invaders found there a stubborn 
obstacle in their path. The first engagement im- 
portant enough to be designated a battle was fought 



344 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

on the 12th at Haelen, a town near Diest. It con- 
tinned all day and ended in the repulse of the 
Germans, with heavy loss. 

It was the unexpected and sturdy resistance at 
Liege, however, that attracted the world^s attention, 
from its stubbornness and its hindrance to the Ger- 
man plans. Its thirty thousand inhabitants had 
fled, the first contingent of the homeless millions 
which the people of Belgium afterwards became. 
But for several weeks the forts held out, not yielding 
until the invaders had brought up some of the mighty 
modern guns, against which concrete and steel are of 
little avail. When finally the invaders left Liege it 
was in great measure a hopeless ruin, its forts 
blown up, its dwellings wrecked. But it had served 
the important purpose of seriously checking the 
German advance. 

By this time the German forces had spread widely 
through Belgium, sharp engagements taking place 
at various points. Namur, a strongly fortified city 
on the Meuse, to the southeast of Brussels, was 
expected to emulate Liege in its defence, but it was 
surrendered on the 23d, two days after the siege 
began, the great German howitzers being too power- 
ful for its defences. As for Brussels, no attempt 
was made to hold it, it being in no sense a strong- 
hold. It was given up without a blow being struck, 
the government having withdrawn to Antwerp. 

To this important mercantile capital the Belgian 
army had retreated, hoping to be able to hold its 
own against attack behind that city's strong works 
of defence. Hopes were entertained that the Ger- 
mans would avoid trying conclusions with that 



DESOLATION OF BELGIUM 345 

powerful stronghold in favor of bringing all their 
forces to bear upon the invasion of France. But 
these hopes vanished as a besieging army marched 
upon the town, bringing with it a number of those 
ultra-powerful guns before which it was expected 
to prove that no forts yet built by the hands of man 
could stand. These were of 11-, 12-, and even 16- 
inch calibre, some of them capable of flinging their 
huge balls over a range of more than eight miles, 
their power of destruction being enormous. 

The siege began on the 28th of September, 1914, 
the seat of government being again moved on 
October 5, this time to Ostend. Antwerp was 
strongly fortified, with a circle of forts several 
miles from the city limits and about one and a 
quarter miles apart. Each fort had a front of 700 
feet, 120 guns, 15 mortars, and a garrison of 1,000 
men. Supporting batteries could be thrown up be- 
tween them in case of attack, and it would have 
been a very difficult matter to pass this line of de- 
fence with the old style of siege guns. But the 
enormous guns brought up by the Germans, and 
mounted on solid concrete bases, soon made havoc 
in the circle of forts. These ponderous 42-centi- 
metre howitzers had a great destructive range, and 
the rain of monster shells they poured upon the 
forts was evidence to military men that the existing 
system of fortifications had become antiquated. 

A few days of this terrible fire sufficed to reduce 
several of the outer line of forts, and to enable the 
German gunners to bring their fire to bear upon 
the inner defences and begin the work of destruction 
within the city itself. With huge shells exploding 



346 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

in the streets and converting buildings into craters 
of ruins the city became a field of horror, and every 
avenue leading from it was soon a seething mass of 
fleeing humanity. Behind them could be seen vast 
volumes of smoke arising from burning buildings. 
Those who could not flee hid in cellars and base- 
ments, and a wave of terror spread over the entire 
city. 

The bombardment was of such tremendous vio- 
lence that towns twenty miles away were shaken 
by the report, and the sky was red with the flames 
of the burning city. The Palace of Justice was 
reached by the bursting shells and the famous 
cathedral was in danger of destruction. Further 
resistance under such circumstances was hopeless 
and on September 9, after ten days of bombardment, 
the city surrendered. It was the only means of 
saving it from annihilation. 

Several forts still held out, while King Albert 
and his troops withdrew and made their way to- 
ward Ostend, the main body reaching this city in 
safety. A small section, cut off by the German 
pursuit, succeeded in reaching Holland, a harbor 
of refuge in which they would be interned for the 
remainder of the war. 

Despite the injury done to this fine city, it escaped 
with little damage as compared with various other 
cities and towns in Belgium. The German authori- 
ties had adopted the inhuman theory that every 
place in which citizens attempted defence by firing 
at their troops should be burned to the ground, and 
this was carried out mercilessly, the whole popula- 
tion of thriving cities being made to suffer from the 



DESOLATION OF BELGIUM 347 

acts of irresponsible individuals. Here is a story 
told by a prominent French engineer: 

''Orchies, a small town of 4,000 to 5,000 in- 
habitants, was destroyed by fire on Thursday by 
Germans, who burned it even to the last house. 
This was done methodically and scientifically by 
about twenty men in the course of a few hours and 
in the following manner. A first detachment 
arrived and smashed all windows on the ground 
floors of houses with the butts of their rifles. The 
second detachment followed and poured petroleum 
through the broken windows by means of com- 
pressed air apparatus. Then the third batch came 
upon the scene, throwing into the houses incendiary 
disks about the size of ordinary plates, which, being 
ignited, moved about rapidly in the same way as 
do, on a small scale, certain flreworks used by 
children. It is a savage crime, premeditated and 
prepared with all the resources of science and 
human ingenuity. 

"Why was it done? Because last Thursday a 
German officer, bearing a Eed Cross badge, was 
allowed to pass a French sentry and then killed 
the sentry, at which French soldiers on guard killed 
the German officer, and three men who accompanied 
him in a car.^^ 

Whatever the provocation, this system of punish- 
ing thousands of innocents for the acts of a few 
guilty cannot be held justifiable, and similar cases 
were reported from various parts of Belgium. The 
one among them all that attracted special attention 
was the destruction in this way of Louvain, one of 
the beautiful old cities of Belgium that had at one 



348 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM 

time 200,000 population, and retained 40,000 or 
50,000 in our day. It was the seat of a celebrated 
university, and had a town hall of remarkable 
beauty. 

We speak in the past tense, for Louvain is no 
more. Some firing was done here on German sol- 
diers, which, observers say, was done by other Ger- 
mans by mistake. Whatever its source, no justifica- 
tion can be offered for the deliberate destruction by 
fire of this beautiful and thriving city, for the acts 
of irresponsible individuals, its university sharing 
its fate, the town hall being the principal public 
building that escaped. 

This act of vandalism, though but one among 
many, especially aroused the indignation of the 
world. It was justified by no military exigency or 
sufficient provocation, being without any warrant 
commensurate with the enormity of the crime. In 
fact, in this war, with the inception or purposes of 
which Belgium had nothing to do, that unhappy 
land was made the chief victim, its millions of 
thriving artisans and farmers being converted into 
a horde of starving fugitives. Their state was one 
that called for the benevolent aid of the. world, a 
demand promptly and magnificently met by the 
United States, from which country many ship- 
loads of provisions and clothing were sent to feed 
and clothe the hapless population. 

With this picture of a starving Belgium from 
causes with which its people had no concern, and 
of a thriving Holland, which happily lay outside the 
tidal waters of the war, we may conclude our story 
of the Netherlands. 



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